The Dream Team
by Mysstique
Summary: Nobody's seen the trio together in ten years...will they come back to help defeat Voldemort?
1. Bitter Reunions

They'd all been gone for a long time. Nearly four years had passed since he had left. It had been too much, and not having either of them there for him made it unbearable. So he left.  
  
He didn't tell anyone where to find him, as he didn't know where he was going himself. All he knew was that he had to get out. And get out he did. He moved to America, hoping his fame didn't stretch this far.  
  
He felt a bit guilty leaving, though it wasn't as if he'd left anyone behind. His two best friends had left before he had, not to be heard from, at least not by himself. He had gone out of sorts with his godfather, the last remaining person of his true family. His old teacher had been cast away to America, which explained his choice in his new home.  
  
The wisest and oldest of his mentors had been killed. Killed by the one person who made his life a living hell. The same person who had killed all of his family, killed so many innocents, had killed his friend and mentor.  
  
Yes, Harry Potter was living in America. And he had a respectable job. And he had his own house. And everything was going fine. Until one day.  
  
"Yes, I told him TWO whole bottles of the freezing flame but did he listen?! No! He brought me eight damn cases of newt's eyes! If he can't get the order right bring him in here and I'll fire his ass and be done with it!"  
  
"Yes, sir, right away sir."  
  
Harry was sitting outside his boss's office in an uncomfortable chair, waiting for his meeting with his boss. Harry had rolled his eyes at the anger that was obviously radiating off the man, and wished his that his appointment had been later. Much later. He didn't need a headache right this moment.  
  
The door opened and out scurried a hassled looking young man who couldn't have been more than twenty, holding a stack of papers. He gave Harry a sympathetic look that wasn't needed before he practically sprinted away from the office.  
  
"Potter, you out there? Come on in." Harry got up and slowly walked into his boss's office. His boss was sitting at his desk, face red (probably from all the yelling, Harry mused) with his feet propped up on the desk. On the desk lay numerous papers, one picture of a dog and a small child, and a name plate that read, 'Richard Martin, Head of International Magical Cooperation'. It only read that because to keep up pretenses. In reality Harry worked a secret group of undercover Aurors.  
  
"Potter, I called you here immediately because I got a message for you. Some old chick called asking for you on the fire, and I told her she's got the wrong place, but no she kept insisting so I told her I'd take down a message. I thought you knew you weren't supposed to give out this address or access number," he gave Harry a stern look.  
  
Harry was bewildered. "I didn't give it out, and I certainly haven't spoken to anybody in a while, outside of the office I mean." He had been away on an operative for a half a year, and had returned about two weeks ago. He hadn't really had the time to 'hit the town' yet.  
  
"Well then Potter, how'd she get it?" Harry shrugged, not in the mood for his boss's anger right now.  
  
"Can I have the message?" Harry asked. Richard snorted.  
  
"Sure, but it makes no sense what so ever. 'We need the three back.'"  
  
"Is that it?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows. Richard was right, that didn't make much sense.  
  
Richard nodded. "She didn't leave a name or anything," he said.  
  
"Hmm. All right, is that all you wanted?" Harry asked, not wanting to stay much longer.  
  
"Yep, that's all. Oh, nice job on the operative, by the way. Eighty-two death eaters ain't bad for six months."  
  
Harry reddened a bit but thanked him all the same. He left immediately, just wanting to go home and relax. It was Friday, and he was anxious for the weekend.  
  
When he apparated into his house (it had been charmed so that only he could apparate in) he checked for any mail from Hedwig. Maybe he'd gotten a reply from one of his outside sources on the upcoming death eater meeting.  
  
There was only one letter on the table, and it bore the handwriting of someone Harry hadn't seen for five years. He pondered whether he should open it, then gave into his curiosity, broke the seal, and began to read the letter.  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
I write you only because I have no other option. I know you left four years ago hoping never to hear from any of us again, but I pray that you will help us. As you know, when Albus died I took over as headmaster of Hogwarts. Since then, things have hit an all time low. The school is barely safe for the children anymore, and I'm afraid we might have to close Hogwarts if we cannot come up with a solution.  
  
I write to you because Voldemort is still alive, terrorizing muggles and wizards alike. Hogwarts has become the last refuge for the side of light, and if it falls I fear we will not last another year. Please, return to Hogwarts. We need your help.  
  
I have also taken the liberty to write to some very old friends of yours that we need as well. I tell you this so you will not be surprised to see them. Your family needs you Harry, as do we at Hogwarts.  
  
Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall  
  
Harry sighed and put down the letter. This was the part of the reason he'd left. Too many people had used him as a weapon, a tool, casting him aside until they had needed him again. They didn't care to see that he was human, only that he was the 'boy who lived' and he was needed to boost morale.  
  
The other part of the reason he'd left was because of his friends. Ron had accused him of stealing his girlfriend and his family, called him a bastard, and left. Of course Harry didn't really know what he meant but he was too furious to care. Harry was also mad at Hermione for leaving (among other reasons) and making Ron a total mess. Ron wasn't really the same after she'd left, and she hadn't even let them know why she'd left.  
  
Harry supposed he could guess why'd they had done it, but it didn't make it easier to forgive them, or make his decision. He sat down at the kitchen table, thinking. After contemplating the matter for a while, he retrieved a piece of paper (here in America, parchment was hard to come by) and a pen (a muggle contraption he'd remember using before when he was in grade school before Hogwarts) and started writing.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Hermione had not seen Hogwarts in ten years. She had been the first one to leave. She had been dating Ron at the time, and everything had been fine until Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts.  
  
Things had gone downhill from there. Though no one had been killed save some poor first year that was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Hermione had felt, for the first time in her life, completely helpless. When he'd attacked she didn't know how to do anything that could possibly help and was forced to watch helplessly. All of the students had.  
  
From that point on Hermione was going to make sure she was never put in that situation again. As soon as she graduated from Hogwarts, she left England for the research center in New Zealand. Ron had been furious that she was leaving so soon and they had gotten into a huge argument about it, which resulted in Hermione's sudden departure.  
  
She had been in contact with Minerva and Molly Weasly, and of course her parents, but other than that her contact with her old friends had been dropped. She didn't know why she did it, but she knew that she had something to prove to herself and to others. She had just celebrated her 28th birthday three weeks ago, and she had a job at the wondrous research center in New Zealand.  
  
One day, after a particular frustrating day at the center she came home to a letter on the table. It was from Minerva. She recognized the handwriting. Not expecting a letter until Wednesday, (it was Monday) she opened it curiously.  
  
Dear Hermione  
  
I realized this letter may seem a bit out of the ordinary, but I assure you that it is important. We here at Hogwarts would like for you to return and teach for us. We could use your knowledge and skills to help prepare us for the inevitable.  
  
We have gotten word from one of our spies that Voldemort plans to attack Hogwarts within the next several months, and I'm afraid that we won't hold out much longer. Hogwarts is the only safe hold here in Europe now; even Madame Maxine has moved her school to Hogwarts.  
  
I believe that you love to teach anyways, as you mentioned in one of your previous letters. This would be a great opportunity for you as well as a great burden released from our shoulders. Please come help us, Hermione.  
  
I should make you aware of whom else we have called into help. Some of your oldest friends will also be called, and I hope that this will not present a problem. You know as well as I do that we need all of you, not just one or two. All, Hermione.  
  
Well, I hope I will see you soon, and I hope this letter reaches you in the best of health.  
  
Yours truly,  
  
Minerva  
  
Hermione looked at the letter, pondering what to do. She really did love to teach, Minerva hadn't lied. And she didn't want to see Hogwarts fall to anyone. It would crush the hope of many people. But she just didn't see how herself, one tiny insignificant person like herself could help stop Voldemort.  
  
Of course, she owed Minerva a lot for different things over the past years, and she wasn't about to let any students be killed if she could help it. She decided she would help them out, even if it meant seeing her past.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Ron walked into his small flat sore and tired. He'd been training all week for a big test at the end of the month. Ron was trying to become an Auror. He'd passed through most of the training but the last test was coming up at the end of the month and he and his fellow trainees were training as hard as they could.  
  
He walked into his small kitchen and pulled out a bottle of pumpkin juice. Not bothering with a cup, he opened it up and chugged down some delicious juice as he sorted through the mail.  
  
Seeing the handwriting on one letter made him drop it in surprise, as well as his bottle of juice that splattered everywhere when it hit the floor. Ron jumped back to avoid being covered in a sticky juice and cursed his bad luck. He muttered a cleaning spell and everything was free from the juice. He picked up the letter again and pondered whether he should open it or just burn it. There was nothing those people could say to him that he'd want to hear.  
  
He had left a couple years after she had. It had been too much, what will Voldemort trying to kill him and Harry every day and Hermione gone. he couldn't take it anymore. About seven years ago he'd just left, not leaving a word behind with anyone, not even Harry or his family. He'd just left.  
  
He never knew why he had picked Brazil to work in, but that's where he had ended up. He immediately tried to forget about them, especially Hermione. They'd been dating when she'd left, and she hadn't let anyone know where she was going. Ron suspected that she was contacting Professor McGonagall but he kept his thoughts to himself. The last straw had been when he'd seen Harry receive a letter from an owl, but it wasn't just any owl. It was Hermione's owl that he and Harry had gotten her for her sixteenth birthday.  
  
He was so mad he couldn't see straight. Harry had lied to him! He'd said he hadn't heard a word from Hermione but here was the evidence, plain as day. He was also mad because earlier in the week Harry had been asked to join the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization that was trying to bring the downfall of Voldemort.  
  
Ron hadn't been asked, of course. Ron knew that he was just jealous, but he couldn't stand how Harry had gotten everything, how Harry was the one everyone turned to for help when they needed it, even Ron's own family. It had really angered Ron, and then the last straw had been the letter from Hermione. Even Hermione, his own girlfriend, had written to Harry but not Ron. Ron grimaced as he remembered the heated conversation he'd had with Hermione the day before she'd left. He was still mad about that, ten years later, but time had weakened his fury.  
  
Ron scowled and sat down at his small kitchen table, opening the letter.  
  
Dear Mr. Weasly, I hope this letter finds you in the best of health. I know you have not heard from us here at Hogwarts for over seven years, but we need your help. We have received word that Voldemort is going to attack the castle sometime in the next several months. Since you have begun, and almost ended your training as an Auror, we were wondering if you would be able to come back and help us.  
  
We know that this will not be easy for you, but we wouldn't have asked you if the situation had not been so dire. Hogwarts is going to fall without your help, Ron. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Please come and help us.  
  
I must tell you that I have contacted some of your old friends, so I thought that it would do you good to see them again. Hermione has been owled, as well as Harry, so even if you don't come for us then please come for them.  
  
Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall  
  
Ron scowl deepened. Of course! They wouldn't really need him the situation wasn't so desperate! Now they were trying to get anyone who was foolish enough to go back. Of course, he did not want to see Hogwarts fall. He had good memories of the place, and he felt as if he owed it to Dumbledore to make sure the place was still standing at the end of the war.  
  
Ron was torn between his choices. He finally decided that he wasn't going to let Harry get all the glory, like he did every time something like this came up. He quickly owled his old Professor back.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Hermione apparated to Diagon Alley. She was supposed to meet Minerva as well as he old friends, whomever they might be. She had a sinking suspicion that she knew who it was, but her mind just pushed back her thoughts.  
  
Walking through the crowds she spotted a familiar face.  
  
"Lavender?" Lavender turned and when she saw who had said her name she'd jumped and immediately hugged Hermione.  
  
"Hermione!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ten years!"  
  
"Well, I was owled by Minerva about Hogwarts," she said, slowly. Lavender's face broke out into another grin.  
  
"Oh, thank God, Hermione. I'm so glad you came! With you helping us there's no way that Voldemort can attack the castle." Hermione blushed at the rather, she felt, undeserved praise, but was suddenly greeted by Padma Patil, also whom she had not talked to in several years.  
  
"Hermione! What a pleasant surprise!" As the old school friends caught up Hermione explained where she had been, and they explained the growing worry of Voldemort's attack at Hogwarts.  
  
"Well, he's attacked all over Europe, killing millions. It got worse about four years ago, though. Much worse. Most people, afraid of being attacked, came straight to Hogwarts. They've had to magically expand it now several times, to fit all the people. It's a school still, but now they teach adults as well as children. It's mostly a defense against the dark arts course, but with out a good teacher this year." Padma trailed off.  
  
"What happened to the old teacher?" Hermione asked, curious. Minerva hadn't mentioned anything like that before.  
  
"Well, he was one of the best Aurors ever here in Europe. So good, in fact, that Voldemort had recruited him. He did his best to resist, but in the end." Lavender stopped, and went on. "So now there's no defense teacher, and many are terrified about Voldemort. He is ruining our lives, Hermione. I doubt the children have seen anywhere but Hogwarts for the last five years.  
  
Hermione sighed. Now she was glad she'd came back, they sounded like they could really use the help.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Ron apparated to Diagon Alley, knowing he was supposed to meet his old Professor here with Hermione and Harry. He kept an eye out for the bushy hair, and finally spotted her. She was standing, talking to one of the Patil sisters and Lavender. He walked up behind Lavender and Hermione stopped talking to stare at him.  
  
He glared at her, before saying, "Hello Hermione, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Lavender spun around, surprised at the voice. She'd really gotten pretty over the years, as had Padma and Hermione, Ron mused.  
  
"Yes, it has. Have you seen Minerva or Harry?" Ron scowled at Harry's name.  
  
"No, I haven't seen the lying bastard. And since when is Professor McGonagall 'Minerva'?" he said, with a sneer in his voice.  
  
"Well she's not our teacher anymore, Ron. Grow up! I've been exchanging owls with her and she's told me-"  
  
"Oh! I see how it is! You can mail our old strict professor but you can't owl me?! I see where your priorities are. School's always first, and then maybe if I have time I'll talk to my friends. Oh, wait, I have to go to the library and check in Hogwarts, A bloody History to make sure-" what ever he was going to say was cut off by a slap from Hermione.  
  
"How dare you say that? I do not think school is the most important thing, and you know it! I owled her because she was the only one-" she trailed off.  
  
"She was the only one who would what?" he said, his voice with a cold, clipped tone.  
  
"She," her voice was now taking on a cold tone as well, "was the only one who would listen to me and not get angry!"  
  
"Well, of course we're going to get angry, Hermione! You left without telling us where the hell you were going or who-"  
  
"I don't have to tell you everything, Ronald Weasly!"  
  
"Yeah, well you have to tell me enough so that-"  
  
"Silencio!" Whatever Ron was going to say was cut off as both of them were silenced.  
  
Ron turned to glare at whoever had cast the spell and he found himself staring in the eyes of his past transfiguration professor.  
  
She had really aged since the last time Ron had saw her. Her eyes had many wrinkles around them, her hair and all but turned gray, and her eyes had tired circles surrounding them. He angrily undid the spell.  
  
"What the hell was that for?" he asked.  
  
"To stop you two from causing a racket. People know who you are, you know, and if you don't want instant popularity you might want to keep your voices down. Now follow me, both of you," she said sternly.  
  
Ron and Hermione both followed, though both were glaring daggers at one another. She led them out of Diagon Alley and into the Leaky Cauldron. They sat a small table in the back of the room where no one could really see them.  
  
"Now, really! The both of you, acting like children in the middle of Diagon Alley. It was like you were fifteen again." Hermione had the grace to blush and look ashamed, and Ron's glare somewhat lessoned.  
  
"So is wonder boy not going to show up?" Ron asked, with a hint of anger in his voice still.  
  
"Well, he owled me back yesterday, I believe he received his letter later than the both of you. His owl was confusing, but the general gist of it was that he wouldn't be coming until later. He had some business left to attend to or something like that."  
  
Ron opened his mouth to say something but Hermione beat him to it.  
  
"I left right away, no questions asked. I left my job, which I feel absolutely horrible about, and we were in the middle of one of our biggest assignments! I can't believe he's going to show up later!"  
  
"Humph, you left some bloody assignment? I left my final test to be an Auror! I had two weeks left before the final test and then I could finally finish my training! And I just dropped everything and came here!"  
  
"Now, you two, I'm sure Harry had a perfectly good reason for not coming, one I am sure he will gladly explain to us when he does arrive. In the mean time-" she was interrupted by a fourth voice.  
  
"I did have a perfectly good reason for showing up five minutes late," a voice said, "one which I will not share with you."  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Harry looked for Minerva in Diagon Alley. He'd been very vague about when he was arriving for a good reason. He didn't want anyone to know when he was to show up, and he himself didn't really know how long his last project was going to take.  
  
When he didn't spot them in Diagon Alley, he assumed they'd already left for Hogwarts. He went into the Leaky Cauldron for a quick drink. He wanted to sit somewhere in the back where no one could recognize him. As he reached the back corner, he heard voices.  
  
"I left right away, no questions asked. I left my job, which I feel absolutely horrible about, and we were in the middle of one of our biggest assignments! I can't believe he's going to show up later!"  
  
"Humph, you left some bloody assignment? I left my final test to be an Auror! I had two weeks left before the final test and then I could finally finish my training! And I just dropped everything and came here!"  
  
"Now, you two, I'm sure Harry had a perfectly good reason for not coming, one I am sure he will gladly explain to us when he does arrive. In the mean time-"  
  
"I did have a perfectly good reason for showing up five minutes late," he said, "one which I will not share with you." He sat down at the table next to Ron since Hermione was already sitting next to Minerva.  
  
"Oh, so you finally decided to grace us with your presence. Spying on us getting old?" Ron's voice was filled with sarcasm.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Harry gave Ron a glare that could rival Snape's on a good day. Hermione gulped and decided to refrain from adding her comment. She didn't want to mess with that.  
  
"Ron, can it," he said coldly. Ron, who usually didn't take orders from anyone, probably would have responded had he been able to. However, someone had cast a silencing charm that he could not break. Ron looked murderous when he realized that he couldn't undue the spell, like he had before.  
  
"Hmm.now that's better, don't you think?" Harry said, with a fake cheerfulness in his voice. He turned to Minerva as if nothing had just happened and said, "When are we going to Hogwarts?"  
  
Hermione also turned to Minerva, for she had not been told of their plans.  
  
"Well," she began, and then sighed, as if she dreaded to tell them. "Part of the reason you-know-who can do so much damage is because everyone is afraid of him. They are afraid to stand up to him. It's actually more mental than anything else. So, we need to boost their mental states a bit. You know, give them hope." She left off, hoping they'd get the hint. From the dark look on Harry's face Hermione could tell that he got it, but Ron looked confused. Hermione was confused as well. What were they going to do?  
  
"Minerva, I really don't think that's necessary. I think we should just head up to the castle," Harry said.  
  
"Harry, you don't understand! Everyone has lost hope! The Weaslys, Sirius, the professors, everyone! If we keep it a secret then no one will gain hope," she said, almost desperately. Hermione frowned, finally understanding what they were going to do. She was also bewildered at her mentor's voice. It sounded as though she'd lost hope as well.  
  
"Harry, it's not like it'd have to be very long. Just walk through and then apparate." At these words realization dawned on Ron but he couldn't make a comment because Harry still had him silenced.  
  
Hermione sighed. "Harry, undue the silencing spell. He deserves to talk too," she said. Harry shrugged.  
  
"All right Hermione, but you can deal with him when he explodes. Have fun." He got up and went to get another drink, reversing the spell as he did.  
  
"Bloody hell, I'm going to kill him!" Ron leapt up to go after Harry and Hermione tried to immobilize him. Ron, however, wasn't in Auror training for nothing. He threw up a shield and the spell rebounded, almost hitting Hermione, had she not had ducked. Within two seconds he had caught Harry.  
  
"You bloody prat! Think you're better than everyone else! How dare you try to silence me, you self-" Harry spun around, looking like Snape yet again. The glare on his face silenced Ron perhaps more effectively than the spell had.  
  
"You know Ron? You sound a hell of a lot like Malfoy," Harry said coldly, barely above a whisper. Harry turned around leaving a now disgusted Ron and an angry Hermione.  
  
She grabbed Ron by the arm and roughly led him back to the table, where Harry was already sitting down, drinking a butterbeer. As much as she wanted to slug both of them, she knew that nothing would be accomplished if they didn't work together.  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Harry sat down at the table, glaring at Minerva. He didn't see why they had to go parading the fact that they were back all around Diagon Alley. It was like asking for a Death Eater to kill you on the spot. He made room as Hermione dragged Ron back to the table, and this time Hermione sat next to Harry while Ron grudgingly took a seat next to Minerva.  
  
"Harry, I think we should try to do whatever we can to raise their hopes. It's useless if we come back to help and no one knows about it. Half of the" she rethought her words and tried to rephrase them, but Harry got the gist of it.  
  
"Half of our usefulness is just me being the bloody boy-who-lived, am I right?" She winced at the bluntness of his words. "I'm not good for anything else, I'm good for a scar and some brave words. Let me tell you something, I did not become an Auror because of my scar," he hissed, angry with her. She looked back guiltily, but she didn't back down.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that, Harry," she tried, exasperatedly.  
  
"I'm sure you didn't. But hey, why don't we do what Hermione says. She's always right, so she'll be right this time," he said, voice deep with sarcasm.  
  
"Honestly, Harry, grow up! I've heard more mature things from a seven year old," she said, her voice hiding the hurt his words had caused.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Minerva looked helplessly at her former students. If she hadn't known better, she would have said that they were the worst of enemies, not the best of friends. How would the world react to the famous trio?  
  
She had to stop the heated argument before it got out of hand. Ron was currently in an argument with Harry and Hermione was sitting adding things in agreement or disagreement.  
  
"As much as I would love to hear all about this, I believe that we need to get to Hogwarts. If you're willing to go through with this plan, just follow me. We need to do something to help moral against you-know-who."  
  
"Honestly, Minerva, say Voldemort," Harry muttered. She got up looking guilty and left, hoping they would follow. As she stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron and back into Diagon Alley, people greeted her with fearful expressions or hopeful expressions. It was usually her job to announce when something had happened at Hogwarts, good or bad, so whenever people saw her they usually expected news. At this point Minerva didn't know whether she actually had any news to tell.  
  
"Minerva, do you have any news today? Did something happen at Hogwarts?" one of the local shopkeepers asked Minerva, causing many eyes to fall upon her and for many voices to silence. She looked around, almost helplessly.  
  
"Well, I owled some old friends of ours to see if they would be able to aid us in our fight. One is training to be an Auror," she said, stopping because of the cheers. Most of the current Aurors had been captured or killed by Voldemort's forces. An Auror was a rare sight these days.  
  
"One has been doing extensive research at the New Zealand Research and Development Center," murmurs and more cheers sprung out again. Only the incredibly smart would study at the Center. This was sounding better and better to their ears.  
  
"And one." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. Harry really hadn't done anything noteworthy during his absence, not that she knew of. "One is just." She was spared of having to say anymore when Ron walked into the crowd and stood next to Minerva. She smiled a grateful smile at him. He held up his hand for silence, and the crowd immediately obeyed.  
  
"Hello! I haven't seen quite a few of you for a while, as I've been busy training to become an Auror. My old Professor here has invited me back to Hogwarts, and I've kindly accepted her offer." Anything else he was going to say was cut off by cheers. Ron blushed and looked around, grinning at the same time. No one had ever appreciated him before, not like this.  
  
"Now, wait just a minute, Ronald Weasly, I don't believe you get all the credit. I was invited back as well, you know," Hermione said, her voice cutting through the crowd. Immediate whispers began, but they died down when she began to talk.  
  
"As you've been informed, I was working at the New Zealand Center, but I've been called back here, and I believe I will be taking over a teaching position at Hogwarts." Minerva nodded, for she couldn't speak. More cheers broke out, but this time everyone was thinking. Minerva had said there were three..it couldn't be Harry Potter, could it?  
  
"Minerva, who is your third mystery person? I don't think we could be anymore surprised than we already are!" Minerva looked at the two helplessly, wondering if Harry was going to come. Hermione looked slightly nervous and Ron was trying not to scowl.  
  
Suddenly the edge of the crowd went silent. A person made their way through the gathering and stood next to Hermione, just slightly taller than she was.  
  
He cleared his throat, as if uncomfortable, but no one seemed to notice this save Ron and Hermione.  
  
"I too have been invited back to Hogwarts, and I will stay as long as I am needed." He didn't mention what he had been doing, or what he was going to do, but the crowd loved it just the same. They couldn't believe it. The famous trio was finally back! There was no way Voldemort could beat them! The crowd's excitement was spreading, and everyone came out of the shops to see what the commotion was. The news spread like wildfire.  
  
Harry glared over at Minerva, this is exactly what he'd wanted to avoid. Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying it and was chatting amongst many people.  
  
Minerva didn't catch his glare, though Hermione did. Even though she was beyond furious with him, she couldn't help but feel a tad sorry for him. He'd never really liked the attention. Hermione grabbed Ron and literally had to drag him away as they made their way through the parting crowd. Harry followed, ignoring the couple flashes that were going off, grabbing pictures of the famous trio together again.  
  
As soon as they had reached the Leaky Cauldron Hermione pulled out a pouch of Floo Powder and threw a pinch into the fire. She stepped into and said, "Three Broomsticks!" and with a flash she was gone. Ron followed suit, a little reluctantly, and so did Harry. 


	2. Old Friends

AN: Thanks to all who reviewed! Soccer held up this chapter, so sorry.  
  
As they stepped out of the fire in The Three Broomsticks, the three were immediately swarmed by people. Harry could spot a couple with cameras trying to make their way to the front. He frowned darkly. Had Minerva alerted all of Europe that they were back? Harry fought the urge to apparate then and there, and just head back to America, but he remembered his promise to Albus.  
  
Everyone thought Albus was dead. Harry had believed it, for a while anyways, until a death eater raid had provided him with a different story.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harry checked to make sure the wards were down before sneaking past the guards in his invisibility cloak. Honestly, anyone could just waltz right in there if they knew the right spell that broke the wards. He opened the gate with a whispered, 'Alohomora'. The rusty gate would have alerted the guards of his presence if not for the handy silencing spell he had cast just a moment before. Shutting the gate behind him, he proceeded to the side entrance to the castle.  
  
All prisoners were usually held in the dungeons of the massive, foreboding castles. Stories of the inside conditions were scarce because no one usually survived to tell the tale. The precious few that had been rescued had been driven to the point of insanity, so no one could get a coherent word out of them.  
  
Once he found the side entrance, he was surprised to find that it led to the main chambers rather than the dungeons like he had thought. Creeping silently along, he debated whether to continue his path. There weren't that many people walking through, and those that did looked far to drunk to realize their surroundings. Harry assumed that there was some kind of party or lavish dinner going on. Glancing down the hallway a bit, he saw that an unusually large man was heading towards him, and as far as Harry could tell, this man took up the whole hallway. Harry quickly found the nearest door. Luckily for him, there were no inhabitants in the room he had entered.  
  
Instead, there seemed to be massive amounts of books, loose parchment, and what looked like some stolen Ministry documents. Parchment, however, was hard to come by in America. Glancing though the closest pieces, he gathered that they were papers from London. Most of it was rubbish, but Harry found a letter addressed to Avery Nott from none other than the former Minister of Magic, Brendan Shafer.  
  
Avery-  
  
I have been recently informed that you know the where abouts of a certain wizard whom all assume dead. I do not need to remind you of the consequences if that information were to get out. I am sending over a representative, a Mr. Scott Platts, to retrieve you and bring you back to London.  
  
Brendan  
  
The letter was particularly interesting, mostly because Avery Nott had been turned up mysteriously dead about two months ago. Harry was puzzled for a moment. Who was thought to be dead? Tons of wizards were dead, as a result from numerous death eater attacks. However, which wizard would cause the crooked Minister to murder the only person who knew of his location?  
  
The answer hit Harry like a ton of bricks. Albus. Albus was dead, but no body had been recovered. However, when he had failed to turn up for two years, people started to loose faith that he was alive. He was presumed dead, and there had been a grand funeral for him. Harry had gone, of course.  
  
Harry knew he was jumping to a huge conclusion, but this was the explanation that made Albus's last words to Harry make sense. The old wizard had said, 'You must follow them, Harry. Do not stray to the dark. Follow them until I return.' The them, of course, being Minerva and Severus.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The search for any news of Albus was a frustrating one. Harry found tidbits of information here and there, but it was only enough to draw a general conclusion. Albus was trapped in a different dimension, but what was holding him there Harry didn't know. He also didn't know how one set about freeing a person trapped in a different dimension. He would have owled Hermione, as she could have helped him search, but he couldn't swallow his anger and ask for help.  
  
The thought of Hermione brought Harry back to the present, where he could hear reporters asking Ron and Hermione about ten different questions at once. Ron seemed to be enjoying the attention. He would point to a reporter and say, "All right, you next," before hearing their question. Hermione looked torn between being highly flattered and highly annoyed, but she answered any questions with a Minerva-like curtness.  
  
Harry clenched his jaw to keep his annoyance in check. What he was annoyed with, he wasn't sure. The damn reporters asking their stupid questions or Ron lapping up all the attention like he was the Queen of England. Harry made his way through the crowd- actually, it was more of a forceful push through the crowd. Freeing himself, he quickly walked into a darker alley before casting an invisibility charm. The reporters that had followed him looked disappointed and bewildered as they found the alley empty. Harry almost chuckled at the looks on their faces before walking back out into Hogesmade, still invisible of course.  
  
Dinner was a nightmare. When he entered, he was immediately attacked (not literally) by his godfather, whom he had not seen in over four years. "Harry Potter! You stop this instant!"  
  
Harry turned around slowly, in enough time to see Sirius come crashing into him and enveloping him in a hug. Harry, who had been expecting a punch or a hex, hugged him back.  
  
"Sirius?" Harry said slowly, "I need to breathe." Sirius let him go but immediately started talking.  
  
"Harry! I can't believe you would just go and leave like that! We didn't hear from you in four years! For all we knew, Voldemort had killed you," Sirius said, his worried tone making Harry feel a little guilty.  
  
"Well, I told you I was leaving, didn't I? I had to, Sirius, I couldn't take it anymore. Both Ron and Mione had left me, I just couldn't." he paused angrily, struggling to find the right words.  
  
"Harry, promise me you'll never go off like that again. I had no idea why you were leaving, and for I all know it could have been because of me!" As if realizing what he'd just said, Sirius immediately tried to change the subject. Harry, however, felt surprised.  
  
"Sirius! It had nothing to do with you," he said, his guilt growing rapidly. "I'm sorry if I left you thinking that." Harry felt a tiny bit of remorse from leaving his godfather to worry, but they were interrupted by Snape, who scowled at Harry as he took a seat up at the staff table.  
  
Ron, Hermione and Minerva entered the Great Hall. Instantly the Hall became quiet except for the excited whispers that instantly sprung up. Ron and Hermione made their way to the staff table. All of his old professors greeted them warmly, as well as some new professors he'd never met before. McGonagall was sitting where Dumbledore used to sit, and she stood up, holding up her hand for silence.  
  
"As you have noticed, we have some guests. This young man is Ronald Weasly, who will be patrolling the grounds. He has been training to be an Auror, so you'd do well not to disobey him." As McGonagall was talking about him Ron smiled at the kids to show them he wasn't as nearly as intimidating as McGonagall made him out to be.  
  
"And this young lady is Hermione Granger. She has studied at the New Zealand Research and Development center. She will fill in as one of our many defense teachers. Please welcome them both." As the Great Hall exploded with applause, Harry noticed that a lot more tables had been added in the back for adults. They had four times the amount of people as the students did.  
  
"And, of course, I believe most of you recognize Harry Potter?" A look from Harry prevented her from saying anything more.  
  
She sat down, pointing out three empty chairs that had been placed to the right of her, one of which was already occupied by Harry. Ron and Hermione sat down and began to eat.  
  
Looking around Harry saw Lavender, Seamus, and Dean sitting together talking animatedly about something, and to their right was Padma and Paravati talking to what was probably their younger sister. She looked an awful lot like them.  
  
Harry spotted most of his old Gryffindor housemates, as well as some old Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. There weren't to many Slytherins present, though, he noticed. He glanced around spotting the Weaslys, not including Percy or Fred, and Hermione's parents.  
  
****~~~~****  
  
After dinner Hermione had been thinking about something Harry had said earlier. He'd said, 'I didn't become an Auror because of my scar.'. He was an Auror? She didn't think she'd ever heard anything about him in the papers, and surely if the famous Harry Potter had become an Auror it would have been everywhere.  
  
"Minerva? Can I see you a moment?" she asked her old professor on their way out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Sure, Hermione, I was just going to collect you three for a meeting with the staff."  
  
"Did Harry say he was an Auror?" she asked, quickly, almost interrupting her friend. Minerva frowned.  
  
"Did he? I didn't hear anything about it. When I contacted him, he was working for the Magical and Muggle Cooperation or something like the for the ministry. I think he was stationed in America or somewhere utterly ridiculous like that," she said, distaste in her voice. "If he'd just stayed here, then he could have." she trailed off, a bit angry. She cleared her throat and said, "Why do you ask, dear?" Hermione shook her head.  
  
"No reason, I just heard him wrong I guess."  
  
"It's old age," Minerva said, chuckling. "Once you hit twenty four, there's no turning back." Hermione managed a small smile.  
  
"All right, I've got to go find Harry but would you please find Ron and meet everyone in the staff room, please? As soon as possible," she said. She took off down the hallway towards the Gryffindor common room. Hermione went to find Ron, who was surrounded by all of his family and many of their old classmates, like Dean and Seamus. He seemed to be relishing in all the attention.  
  
"Ron, sorry to interrupt but we need to meet with Minerva," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. She noticed that she didn't get a funny feeling in her stomach the way she used to when she touched him.  
  
They arrived at the staff room to find that the only person not there was Harry. Even Minerva was there. She did not look happy.  
  
"All right, now that you two are here we can begin. I'm afraid Mr. Potter feels he had more important things to do and cannot attend this meeting. Hermione, I need you to tell him about all of this so that you guys can start teaching tomorrow." Hermione nodded.  
  
The meeting basically introduced all the teachers to Hermione and Ron. It explained the rules for the students, both children and adult, and told them about the different ways Death Eaters frequently tried to enter Hogwarts' boundaries.  
  
The whole time Hermione was wondering what Harry could be doing that was more important that this. 


	3. No confidence

AN: Thanks for the reviews! I managed to get another chapter out despite all my soccer stuff~  
  
Harry was, at the time of the meeting, tracking down some Death Eaters in Austria. Sirius, the only one who knew that Harry was an Auror, had briefed him about a small band of Aurors that hadn't returned from their mission about a week ago. Harry had to check it out, against Sirius's will of course.  
  
The Death Eater base seemed to be centered in the middle of a large, dark forest. Harry wore dark robes, not unlike those that the Death Eaters wore, and also brought his old invisibility cloak. He could turn himself invisible, yes, but that required energy and he needed all the energy he could get right now. He had transfigured himself before leaving Hogwarts, however. He was now a brown-haired, blue-eyed, pudgy man who looked mid thirties.  
  
Following a lone Death Eater, he managed to find his way to their base with no trouble. There was no apparent way into the base. Harry tried to stay close to the Death Eater without alerting the man of his presence. After about ten steps, however, the Death Eater noticed him and turned around. Luck was with him tonight, fortunately.  
  
"You're late too? Come on, I know a short cut," the Death eater said. Harry quickly followed, being careful to hide his face. He was disguised, of course, but he didn't want to take any chances. He scolded himself for being seen, but he had incidentally found a way in.  
  
Once inside, the death eater led him to a small meeting room. The room, which looked more like a dungeon than a room, held about forty death eaters. Harry was stunned. If this was how many they had in a small base like Austria, how many did they have at the central base? He shuddered to think.  
  
A man in dark robes like the rest of them caught their attention.  
  
"All right. I've been informed that we may do what we like to the Aurors, Master already has enough for his plan. I'm going to assign four of you to dispose of them how you see fit." He pointed to four people close to Harry.  
  
"You four, you're in charge. They're in the lower dungeon. Have fun," he said, his voice sickeningly smooth. Harry followed the others to the dungeons. When they got there, he silently stunned one of the death eaters.  
  
When he fell to the ground, the other two spun around, looking for an attacker.  
  
"Guys, come help me, I don't know what happened," Harry said in a voice lower than his own. When the two Death Eaters were close enough to him he stunned both of them before they had their wands out. Must be new recruits, Harry thought. That was just too easy. He called out to the prisoners to find out which cell they were in.  
  
"Hello? Is anyone there?" He heard silence.  
  
"I stunned the Death Eaters, but they'll be waking up soon. Which cell are you in?" Harry heard a faint croak in the cell straight in front of him. He quickly said, "Alohomora!" and opened the gate.  
  
"Oh, shit," he said, looking at the Aurors. They were not in good condition. There were six all together. Two had dried blood all down their face, and one was holding his leg like it was broken. The other three had suffered the Cruciatus curse, he knew the side effects the Unforgivable. He grabbed some vials from his belt. They contained some low grade healing potions. It wouldn't heal them completely, but it would get them out alive.  
  
"Here," he said, handing three identical vials to the three that had suffered through the Cruciatus. They drank them up greedily, and after a few seconds the effects began to wear off. Harry healed the gaping wounds in the one's head, and bandaged up the others. The man holding his leg looked awfully familiar. It was Fred Weasly. That's why he wasn't at dinner, Harry realized.  
  
He healed Fred's leg, and he heard a muttered, "thanks." Harry simply nodded a short, "you're welcome," before turning to the others.  
  
"All right, the Death Eaters will be awake any minute so." what ever he was going to say was cut off by the banging of the gate. Someone had locked Harry inside with the rest of the Death Eaters. Harry sighed. This was going to complicate things further.  
  
"Oh good job Harry," he muttered to himself. "Way to be captured on a rescue mission. God, what a bloody idiot. I suppose the death eaters have security spells on them or something. Figures they would." he continued muttering to himself, not realizing the six Aurors could pretty much hear ever word.  
  
"Don't worry about it mate, we're just glad someone tried. Sorry you're gonna be killed with the rest of us," Fred said. "By the way, you say your name's Henry? Got a last name, Henry?" Fred said, trying to make conversation. Harry frowned.  
  
"I'm not going to die, this just complicates things. Honestly, do you think I'd come by myself if I couldn't handle things?" Seeing the look on Fred's face, Harry quickly apologized.  
  
"Sorry, didn't mean to snap. You just sound so defeated. No hope left, know what I mean? Don't really like that attitude myself," Harry said. Fred nodded.  
  
"I know, but honestly, what's left to hope for? Most Aurors hope to die in a small place like this rather than be captured for one of you-know-who's plans. You know, he's been gathering Aurors at his cell in Albania, I'm glad I wasn't stationed there. Who knows what they do to Aurors there?"  
  
The other Aurors nodded in agreement. Harry frowned. He needed them to escape, he couldn't do it all.  
  
"I came from Hogwarts just now, you know. And have you heard? It appears that Ron Weasly, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter have returned to Hogwarts."  
  
"Really? If they returned then things must be pretty desperate for McGonagall. She has Sirius recruiting new Aurors. I know he can't find anymore. We were some of the last Aurors he's got," one man said.  
  
"Are you sure they returned? McGonagall could just be lying to raise moral for Hogwarts. Have you seen them?" Harry nodded. Fred was oddly quiet.  
  
"I haven't seen Ron in years. We all tried writing to him, trying to get him to come back, but he never responded to our letters. We thought he had died," Fred said.  
  
"Well, he's there. They turned up Friday night, all three of them."  
  
"Even Potter? I heard he was killed by Voldemort," an Auror said. He looked oddly familiar.  
  
"Yes, Potter's there too. Listen, I'd love to chat about them after we've escaped, all right? Just remember that you can always have hope." With that, Harry stood up and blasted the gate open with a handy 'Reducio'. The three Death Eaters standing outside were killed in the blast, so the six Aurors and Harry quietly escaped without too much trouble. Remembering the way down here, Harry retraced his steps. They ran into problems along the way though.  
  
A band of four Death Eaters came running down the hallway, obviously responding to the small explosion. They were quickly stunned/cursed, and the group continued on their way. Although they had been healed, the Aurors moved slower than usual.  
  
They reached the front gates, but when Harry and the group tried to open them they were portkeyed into the same room Harry had been before. They were surrounded by thirty some death eaters.  
  
"Well well well, what do we have here? A spy in our midst? Reveal yourself!" said the head death eater. He shot a spell at Harry, and his hood fell down. Thank god for the small miracles, Harry thought. His disguise was still in place, for no one shouted, "Harry Potter!"  
  
"So, you thought you could get away undetected?" Harry rolled his eyes at the cliché line. This death eater was a horrible bad guy.  
  
"I didn't think I could get away. I knew," he said. Then, with out warning, his eyes flashed a bright emerald green and a shock wave hit the room, spreading out like a ripple. The Aurors were amazed. He had leveled the whole room with one curse!  
  
"Lets get out of here," he said. They quickly ran out the room into the forest, and apparated.  
  
When they reached Hogwarts, Harry stopped.  
  
"Report to Sirius, he's waiting for you." In a flash, he disappeared.  
  
In reality, Harry had just put on his invisibility cloak. He wanted to arrive before they did, so they wouldn't draw conclusions about him and 'Harry Potter'. Plus, that spell took a great deal out of him. It was mostly all show, but it did take a great deal of energy.  
  
The next day, the Daily Profit sold out. On the front page was an article about the trio, and how they had returned to Hogwarts. They had information on what Hermione and Ron had been doing, but surprising little on the 'boy-who-lived'.  
  
The Trio Returns to Hogwarts  
  
Just yesterday an amazing event occurred. Three key figures in the history of fighting Voldemort returned to Hogwarts Friday night. Hermione Granger, who was one of the three original starters of the second Order of the Phoenix, has been studying at the New Zealand Research and Developmental Center. Her latest research has been about the Unforgivable Curses. Ms. Granger was working on a way to block these three horrible curses when she received a letter from Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts. Along with her vast amount of knowledge, this young witch is also very powerful. In fact, some go as far to claim that she might be as powerful, if not more, as McGonagall herself. Ronald Weasly, the second original starter of the Order of Phoenix, also returned to Hogwarts late Friday night. Mr. Weasly was currently studying to become an Auror in Brazil, in South America. He is two weeks away from completing his training, and once he does he will become one of best Aurors to ever protect Hogwarts. His training masters say he has been one of the best Aurors to ever go through their program. With his fast reflexes and quick thinking, this reporter is sure that the residents of Hogwarts will rest easier knowing he is there. Harry Potter has also returned to Hogwarts. After leaving four years ago, it is unclear where he went. Some say he went to America and worked for the Ministry of Magic. Others say he started tracking down Voldemort. We were unable to question Mr. Potter last night, but we are sure he will be more than glad to grant us an interview at the soonest possible time. Mr. Potter, who is still know as the boy-who-lived, is said to be one of the most powerful wizards of our time. None know just how powerful, but some compare his power to Albus Dumbledore's.  
The article went on to speculate where Harry had been, or how powerful he really was.  
  
There was a second article in the paper as well, that did not make the front page but was just as important, if not more so.  
  
Six Aurors Escape Captivity  
Six Aurors that had been captured earlier this week returned to Hogwarts last night. They had been working on a mission in Albania when they were capture, taken to the Death Eater base, and presumed dead. However, a mysterious figure sneaked into the base last night, and freed the Aurors, leaving almost no Death Eater survivors. Fred Weasly, one of the Aurors, described this man for us.  
'He had dark brown hair.he was shorter than I stand, but his power made up for lack of weight.his eyes were blue but they flashed green when he performed [the spell that destroyed the thirty two death eaters]. He said his name was Henry, but he had no last name.'  
This 'Henry' figure could be the turning point in the war. Sources say that after the six Aurors arrived at Hogwarts, he mysteriously vanished. Madeline Rupert said he is middle thirties. If anyone spots this mysterious man, thank him for the lives of these six Aurors.  
  
The rest of the article described the different Aurors that had been rescued.  
  
Harry frowned as Hermione approached him. She looked angry.  
  
"Harry! You missed our meeting last night, and I couldn't find you all morning! We have a class in twenty minutes, and I haven't had time to tell you everything you need to know," she said.  
  
"I'm sorry Hermione, but I had something important to do. Maybe you should just teach the class yourself, and I'll just watch," he said, a bit angry and a bit tired from last night's escapades.  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Now don't you take that tone with me, Mr. Potter- you will help me whether you like it or not." Harry fought back a grin, despite his anger, but kept his face serious- she sounded so much like McGonagall.  
  
"Yes ma'am, Professor McGon- I mean, Professor Granger," he said, his eyes twinkling like Dumbledore's used to.  
  
Hermione bit back a grin herself. She had to admit- she did tend to sound like Minnie every once in a while. Of course, she couldn't let Harry get away with that.  
  
"Stand up, Mr. Black- er, Potter," she said, grinning. Harry's mouth opened in surprise.  
  
"That's below the belt, Hermione- I am not that bad," he protested. "Am I?" She laughed.  
  
"No, but if we don't get to our class in five minutes then we'll be in trouble. Then you'll be that bad," she said, teasing him. She walked out of his room, and he followed her.  
  
Ron was waiting in the classroom when they got there, and their camaraderie seemed to vanish. Harry got in a foul mood when Ron sent him a glare.  
  
There were probably close to forty people waiting in the class, and they were all children, probably ten to fourteen years old. They all got quiet when the two entered the room.  
  
Ron went to the back of the room and stood by the door. Apparently his rounds included protecting the DADA classes, and this was the only class going on at that moment.  
  
"All right. My name is Professor Granger," Hermione said, then pausing, waiting for Harry to introduce himself.  
  
"I'm Harry. If you call me professor I won't respond," he said, quite seriously but with a small grin on his face. Ron rolled his eyes in the back of the class.  
  
Hermione glared at Harry, but she continued. "We will be teaching you how to defend yourself from Death Eaters because in the unfortunate case that you would happen to meet one, you will need to be prepared. We will start with basic shielding." As she continued, Harry smirked. She was born to be a teacher. Hermione caught the smirk and narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Harry will explain how you cast your basic shield," she said. Now it was Harry's turn to glare.  
  
"All right, all you need to do is say 'Protecius Retero'. If you do it correctly, a soft white light will surround you for a second before disappearing. Observe."  
  
He raised his wand. He really didn't need his wand to do this, but they needed to see how it was supposed to look. And he hadn't really told anyone about the wandless magic yet.  
  
"Protecius Retero," he said, and a white light came from his wand and surrounded him briefly, before disappearing.  
  
"It will last exactly five minutes before you need to renew it, and it will stop your basic curses," Hermione said. She raised her own wand, and cast a simple stunning curse towards Harry. It seemed to disappear, and Harry didn't feel a thing.  
  
"However, if a more powerful curse is used, like one of the unforgivables, then it will break your shield. Ron, since you have permission, will you please cast Imperio on Harry? They need to see what the shield looks like when it breaks," she said. Harry groaned. Great, Ron gets to use him as a guinea pig. Ron came to the front of the class and cast an Imperious curse on Harry.  
  
He allowed his shield to become visible and shatter. Harry felt the warming affects of the Imperious curse before throwing it off. He didn't know what Ron would do to him and he didn't want to.  
  
The class looked amazed, not with the shield but with Harry and the Imperious curse.  
  
Harry answered their unspoken questions. "That will be another lesson," he said. The rest of the lesson went smoothly.  
  
The rest of the day their classes became progressively older. When they got to people their age, it felt strange to Hermione teaching her fellow peers. What was even weirder was when they had to teach people her parents' age.  
  
A class came in that included Mr. and Mrs. Weasly and Sirius. Sirius was there just for observations purposes; he was already an Auror and already knew what they were teaching. However, two people walked in that Harry did not expect. Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape. Obviously, both knew how to defend themselves adequately, so why were they here?  
  
The whole day had been tense for Harry. Ron had been periodically in and out, and he caused tension to build between Harry and Hermione. Harry was growing increasingly irritated because Hermione insisted that Ron show them how to do everything because he was an Auror. On the spells that Ron could cast, Hermione had tried them. She hadn't considered letting Harry do them.  
  
Needless to say, they were doomed to blow up sometime.  
  
"All right, Minerva has informed me that the defenses need to be strengthened, but until several people have enough power, no one can recreate what Dumbledore had started. She wanted me to teach you power exercises. Most of you don't know what I'm talking about because these exercises were invented within the last six months. They are supposed to increase your power, or at least make your power more available to you.  
  
"First, we need to find people who are capable of fixing the shields, so we can train you. This can be done with a simple spell, 'Revealus Maximus'. Once we do that, I'll split you into two groups- one group will be working on the defenses with me, while the other group will work with Harry on the most advanced shield, one few people can do." Harry frowned as she went around the room testing different people. He got stuck with the shield people?  
  
The simple spell Hermione was using basically showed a person's aura. The different colors represented different types of auras. She wasn't too surprised to see that the Weaslys were both orange, which meant they could work on the defenses. Harry started testing people as well, and he ended up with Malfoy. He glanced at Draco, not really feeling the same hatred as he had ten years ago.  
  
"Well, Potter, I see you've come back from hiding. Nice of you to leave us all here and go off, prancing around America or where ever you were," he said. Ok, maybe he didn't hate Malfoy, but he sure as hell didn't like him.  
  
"Shut up Malfoy, Revealus Maximus," Harry said. Malfoy's aura was yellow, which meant he was working on the defenses with Hermione. Harry sighed, and moved onto Snape. Snape merely glared at him.  
  
"Don't think about it Potter, I've been instructed to work with you on the shields. They need someone who can do it, after all," he said, scathingly. Harry glared at him, but moved onto the next person.  
  
Hermione finished. "All right, all of you who saw yellow, orange, or white, come with me. Everyone else is to go with Harry." Harry saw that most of the group was with him. He stood in front of them, waiting to explain the shield.  
  
"This shield is the most difficult, and it requires the most power. I doubt very many of you will succeed at it. If you do, however, this shield could make you nearly immortal. It will block all curses, save the killing curse, but this has never been proven. The only people who tried to block the killing curse were not nearly powerful enough. Some say Dumbledore can- could do it," Harry said, hastily correcting himself. He didn't need people thinking he was delusional. "If you are powerful enough, you can return the spell to its caster," he said. "Perhaps Snape will demonstrate it for you, as I surely could not cast it myself," he said, extremely sarcastically.  
  
Snape glared at him, and then explained the shield. Harry's eyes drifted over towards Hermione's group. She was currently explaining exercises that increased your power, exercises Harry had never needed.  
  
"Potter, do you think you could manage to try and curse me?" Harry gladly accepted the offer and threw a simple leg locker curse at Snape. Snape concentrated, and returned the spell towards Harry, who dismissed it with a shield of his own.  
  
"Come on, Potter, I know you can do better than that," Snape said.  
  
Harry glared. "Do I have your permission, sir, to cast the Imperious curse on you?"  
  
Snape nodded.  
  
"Imperio!" Harry said, and he could see Snape struggle to keep his shield up. Harry had to keep from grinning. He hadn't even used half his power.  
  
"Nice, that's what is supposed to happen. Split off into pairs and try it." Snape came over to Harry, baffled.  
  
"Potter, since when did you become that strong?" he asked.  
  
Harry shrugged. "I was always strong, but apparently not strong enough to be trusted with a simple shield," he said bitterly, almost to himself. Snape raised his eyes in surprise.  
  
"You think you could do it?" It was a genuine question, not a scathing remark. Harry laughed.  
  
"I don't think, I know. I've done it before just fine."  
  
"Let's see, then," Snape said. Before Harry could respond he cast the Cruciatus curse towards him. Harry's quick reflexes got the shield up in time. He didn't put too much behind it, because he didn't want the curse to rebound upon his once professor. Snape looked surprised.  
  
"Not bad, Potter," he said, and Harry simply nodded and muttered a small 'thanks'.  
  
****~~~~****  
  
As soon as the lesson was over, Hermione walked over towards Harry. She thought the lesson had gone badly. None of the people had auras strong enough to sustain the defenses for Hogwarts. She suddenly had an idea.  
  
"Hey Harry, could you please test me? I never did have myself tested, and I'm curious to see if I should help with the defenses or not," she said. He nodded, but she didn't see the scowl on his face.  
  
"Revealus Maximus," he said, softly. She glowed a soft white for a second, and then returned back to normal, looking pleased but surprised.  
  
"It's white, Hermione," he said. "Maybe you should talk to McGonagall. I bet you could do the defenses all by yourself, just like Dumbledore," he added, sarcastically. Her face flushed with anger.  
  
"I don't see you doing anything! You just sat there like a log the entire lesson and let me explain things!"  
  
"That's because you wouldn't let me! You didn't even ask what I wanted to teach!" He stormed out of the room, with Hermione close on his heals. He could hear her panting to keep up with him, and he walked faster.  
  
"I needed you to teach the shields, Harry!" They were almost at the Great Hall because Harry was walking so fast.  
  
"Oh, so you couldn't teach the shields, huh?" he said, not bothering to lower his voice as they entered the Great Hall.  
  
"I can't do them," she said harshly.  
  
"Well, apparently I can't do them either because Snape had to come help me teach them," he said sarcastically. Hermione's eyes glinted.  
  
"I thought you could use some help! But, forgive me for thinking the great Harry Potter needs help! He can do everything by himself!"  
  
"That's your problem, Hermione, you think you know everything! I didn't need help with the shields. And I'm not the only one who thinks I don't need help- you handled everything today without my help! Never asked for it once- who says you didn't need help on the defenses?" Both of them were glaring bloody murder at each other. Minerva walked over to them.  
  
"I think it would be best if you took this argument outside," she said quietly. "And don't mention Hogwarts' defenses so loud- there could be spies for you-know-who," she said.  
  
"Say Voldemort!" they both shouted at her at the same time. Harry glared once more at Hermione before he stormed out of the Great Hall.  
  
Hermione sat down at her spot at the table. Ron was not present, he was out checking the forest.  
  
"ARG! I can't stand that boy!" she muttered to herself. She looked down at her food, found she was not hungry, and stormed out of the Great Hall. All of this was done in complete and utter silence. Minerva was still in shock at having two of her best pupils simultaneously yell at her. The rest of the Great Hall was shocked the two friends were that hostile towards each other. 


	4. Existing issues

~AN: Thanks a bunch to the reviewers! I really appreciate your input! And now, on with the show~  
  
After Harry stormed out of the Great Hall he headed towards the Quidditch Pitch, summoning his broom to him wandlessly. It reached him the same time he reached the Pitch, and he leapt on, not caring if Death Eaters attacked right now. In fact, if they had, Harry probably could have wiped them out.  
  
He flew as high as he could, feeling his stress relieve. Flying always did that to him. He shot across the pitch, urging his broom to go faster. Dive after dive after dive, Harry shot up and down across the pitch. One watching might have thought he was trying to see how close he could get to the ground without crashing.  
  
Ron happened to come out of the forest and see someone flying. He walked over, unnoticed. As soon as he was close enough he could tell it was Harry. No one else was this good. He could tell Harry was not in a good mood. Harry only flew like that when something major was bothering him. Ron felt a stab of guilt. The only times Harry had to fly was when he didn't have Ron to talk to.  
  
Ron missed having Harry and Hermione around, much as he loathed to admit it. It was lonely trying to talk to people who only wanted to ask you questions about yourself. Ron, as much as he loved the attention, was ready for a change in conversation. No one could be that self absorbed all the time, not even Malfoy.  
  
He waited for Harry to land, and then walked over towards him. When Harry saw him he just sat in the bleachers, not bothering to greet him.  
  
"Hey," Ron said, sitting down next to Harry. Harry looked straight ahead.  
  
"You know, if you want to make me mad again, you might want to wait a few minutes. I just got calm," he said, seriously. Ron laughed.  
  
"I'm not here to aggravate you, Harry," he said. Harry looked over at him.  
  
"Oh, trying to kill me then?" he asked, sarcastically. Ron winced at the tone.  
  
"Listen, I came to.er, apologize," he said, not looking at Harry. Harry just stared at him.  
  
"That week was.complete torture. Hermione left me, without so much as a word. Didn't care to explain anything. Then, Dumbledore had you doing all that extra training, while I sat around doing nothing. It felt like both my best friends had betrayed me. Then, you got that letter from Hermione, when you said you hadn't talked to her-" he was interrupted by Harry.  
  
"What letter? What are you talking about?"  
  
Ron looked at Harry with a withering glance.  
  
"I saw her owl delivering you a letter three days after she left. You tried to hide it, but I saw the owl, Harry," he said.  
  
Harry was even more confused than he had been. "Ron, I don't know what you're talking about. I hadn't heard from Hermione either. I sent a letter to Sirius, and she let me borrow her owl. That letter was Sirius's reply," he said. "Didn't I tell you I wrote to Sirius the day before she left?"  
  
Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think it came up. Bloody hell," he said, breathlessly. "To think I stewed over that letter for years! Well, I guess it didn't help that you were the last person she talked to. I thought you were the one who made her leave, who took her away from me. I'm sorry mate, I really am."  
  
"Yeah, so am I," Harry muttered to himself. Ron was completely oblivious to the fact that Harry was less than thrilled.  
  
"Let's go eat, I'm starving," he said, getting up and heading down. Harry followed silently, keeping the unsaid issues in the back of his mind.  
  
They walked a couple of minutes in silence, and then Ron asked, "So who pissed you off? Malfoy? Snape?" Harry shook his head.  
  
"It was Hermione," he said. Ron just stared.  
  
"Hermione made you that mad?" he said incredulously. "Harry, I thought you were suicidal with all those dives you were doing," he said. Harry grinned.  
  
"Nope, not suicidal, just severely pissed. Now, I'm not so mad anymore- I can see where she's coming from- it's just been a long week, and she happened to be the lucky person who I blew up at," he said sarcastically.  
  
He suddenly groaned.  
  
"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked.  
  
"Well, we sort of blew up at McGonagall. I doubt she'll be very happy with either of us. Of course," he added, "I'm not to happy with her either. I guess an apology is in order." He walked slower, almost as if someone had assigned him a death warrant.  
  
"I should probably go apologize to 'Mione first though," he said. "She's scarier than old McGonagall," he said with a twinkle back in his eye. Ron just laughed at his friend and followed him back into the castle.  
  
Harry knew he should apologize to Hermione about their argument earlier, but he didn't think his pride could handle it. He had good reasons to be mad at her- he shouldn't apologize for being mad.  
  
Despite all of this, he found himself walking up to where Hermione was staying. Ron walked down to the Great Hall for some food. Harry knocked on the portrait in front of Hermione's room.  
  
"Go away Harry! I know it's you, and right now I might just hex your head off!" she said through the closed portrait. Harry said back, "Hermione, I want to apologize."  
  
The portrait slowly opened to reveal a very messy Hermione. Her face had lost the redness from anger, but her hair was a mess. Harry would bet she'd been pulling at it again. She did that when she got frustrated. Seeing her melted away some of his previous anger.  
  
"Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for helping me, and I should have helped more in class. And I'm sorry I yelled at you in front of the whole Great Hall," he said, with the saddest face he could muster. Hermione bit back a grin. It was hard to stay mad at Harry. She could stay mad at Ron for weeks, but Harry.  
  
"And I don't care what you say, I think you could manage a shield, because if Snape can do it, you can do it," he added. "I mean, come on, it's Snape," he said. Hermione finally laughed.  
  
"Harry Potter, darn it! Why can't I stay mad at you?" Harry pretended to think about it.  
  
"Because I'm so lovable?" he asked, giving her an innocent smile. She laughed again.  
  
"Harry I'm sorry I yelled at you too. I was incredibly stressed from my first day teaching and I just wanted." Harry shushed her.  
  
"I know, I felt the same way," he said. "I was worried that Arthur and Molly Weasly were going to lecture me in my own classroom," he said, laughing. She laughed with him, and gave him a hug.  
  
"Promise we'll never fight over something stupid like that again?" she asked into his shoulder. He gently kissed the top of her head and said, "Promise. Now, I do believe you have yet to eat dinner, Ms. Granger," he said. "Care to join me?" He held out his arm, and she took it, laughing.  
  
"Lead the way, Mr. Potter," she said.  
  
AN: Don't worry, this is not happily ever after. Not all of the issues have been approached, and they are the biggest ones. 


	5. The new Assistant

AN: Again, thanks to the people who reviewed. I appreciate your comments :) Happy reading! I won't be able to update this frequently, I've just had a lot of time on my hands. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out in a few days.  
  
As they entered the Great Hall they were relieved to find that the only person still eating was Ron. He glanced up at them.  
  
"How come you didn't tell me you practically killed each other in the Great Hall?" he asked. "I come in here, and Sirius asks me if I've found Harry's body yet," he said. Harry and Hermione burst out into laughter. It'd been a long day.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
The next day went smoother than the day before, obviously. Things were still tense between the trio, but Ron seemed oblivious to it. Hermione would send a glance towards Harry every so often, which he would counter with his own. It usually became a staring contest, both avoiding the subject that hung in the air. Ron, being the dense person that he was, didn't catch these glances.  
  
Something else was making Harry tense. Or rather, someone. The woman assigned to 'assist' Harry and Hermione in classes. Harry grumbled as they told him that they were adding a professor to help Harry and Hermione with the workload. Harry didn't know where they got the idea that he and Hermione needed help in the first place. He thought the lessons were going quite well, apart from the fact that he still had yet to prove anything. The things he were teaching were all far below his level of performance.  
  
Hermione was assigned to teach the harder subjects. She sent Harry apologetic glances when she was teaching something. Sarah Toombs, their 'assistant', was the one assigning the lessons. On a day that she had to miss, ('can't help you all the time') things were getting out of hand.  
  
"NO! Don't touch him! Don't you know the effects of the Dragon Curse?!" Hermione grabbed a seventh year girl back as she tried to run to her boyfriend, who had been hit with the Dragon curse and was now shriveled up in pain on the floor.  
  
Harry, who had been on the other side of the room teaching a group of sixth years how to get rid of a Bogart (yes, that's right, a Bogart) raced over to help Hermione out. Ignoring her warnings of the effects of the curse, he went over to the boy who was still in obvious pain. The curse was designed to make your body flow with blood like a dragons. In other words, your body felt on fire. If one got too close to the poor victim of this curse, the victim's body would react like that of a dragon, and they would release a very powerful magical fire. Needless to say, it was not pleasant, and there was no known cure; the victim had to let the curse reduce by itself.  
  
"Harry, be careful!" Stepping to the boy's side, he cast a complex freezing charm on the boy. The boy did not freeze, like one would expect, but he stopped shaking. Harry muttered two healing spells, which seemed to relax the boy further.  
  
Hermione held the now sobbing girl back, just in case any side effects still remained. Once Harry okayed the boy's condition, she released the poor girl, who ran immediately to the boy's side. Harry looked at the class, who had fearfully grown silent.  
  
"Why, may I ask, was such a curse performed?" he growled. "Surely it was not in the curriculum."  
  
Hermione stepped forward. "We weren't working on the curse, we were working on the object of working as a team." She glared at her class. "Obviously, someone did not hear me when I said 'No Dark Magic'!"  
  
"Hmmm, doesn't look like the 'team' part worked out either," Harry said. Hermione rolled her eyes at him as if to say, 'well, clearly not'.  
  
This was the situation that Sarah Toombs found when she walked into the classroom.  
  
"What is going on here?! Why are you all standing around?" she walked over to them, to spot the boy and girl, who still sat on the floor. "And why are two of my students on the ground?"  
  
Harry, whose eyes had narrowed at 'my students' (her students? What rubbish!), was the first to answer her.  
  
"Well, one of YOUR students thought it'd be funny to cast the Dragon curse on Jacob here," he said, bitingly. "Maybe you should teach your students acceptable curses, Toombs." Toombs' eyes narrowed.  
  
"Hmph, maybe we should get a new professor who would be more capable to handle the students, Professor Potter. I can't have my students fearing for their lives, now can I?"  
  
Harry's eyes flashed dangerously. Hermione didn't know whether to stop him or to let him pummel the crap out of this annoying witch. She chose the former option, sighing.  
  
"Sarah, what happened here was an accident, one that happened under my supervision, not Harry's," she said, causing Harry to momentarily forget Toombs. He looked over at her with shock. She was sticking up for him? "The students did not follow my orders, but I should have taken better precautions."  
  
Sarah's glare hardened, but it was aimed at Harry. "Oh, Hermione dear, you don't need to cover for Potter," she said. "I think I'll have a talk with Minerva after class, and we'll-"  
  
"Class dismissed," interrupted Harry. "Everyone is free to go. We'll," he said, looking at Toombs, "discuss this later. I've had enough." With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving a flabbergasted Toombs and a smiling Hermione.  
  
Things did not get better between Harry and Toombs. Toombs insisted on supervising Harry, pointing out things she noticed.  
  
"Well, actually Harry, if you don't mind, the wand movement goes more like this," she said, interrupting him one day. He'd learned his lesson and refused to let himself blow up at her. Strictly speaking, he was on probation. Minerva had told him if he had one more outburst (which, in Harry's opinion, was more of a sarcastic remark) that he'd be transferred to the charms department.  
  
Harry was beginning to forget why he had come back in the first place (if he had even had a good reason to begin with). Minerva insisted on having him present at the Order meetings as well as staff meetings, but he was rarely allowed to comment. Nobody felt like taking him seriously. He took all his frustration out on his Death Eater camp raids. Recovering Aurors was harder than he thought it would be. Most were transferred to the main camp right after their capture.  
  
At the next staff's meeting (which Harry was not present for), Hermione was slightly loosing her cool.  
  
"So, as long as Hermione and Toombs can keep up the good work then we should be fine for the fall exams for the younger children. The next matter to discuss is-" Minerva was interrupted by Snape.  
  
"Harry Potter," he said. The people that were in the room at the moment were surprised.  
  
He continued on as if he'd been talking about the weather. "If you don't stop what you're doing, he's not going to be here much longer. He'll disappear, just like he did last time."  
  
"What are we doing, Severus?" Toombs asked, with a slight smirk on her face.  
  
"You know bloody well that Harry can handle things by himself. He certainly doesn't need YOUR help," he sneered.  
  
"I'll take that into consideration, Severus. I must admit that I haven't seen anything of the sort, and that's why I have placed him with Hermione and myself," she said. Maggie, the charms assistant, agreed with her.  
  
"I'd have to agree. I don't want you guys to get your hopes up on some child hero who's nothing but a normal wizard like the rest of us," she said kindly, as if this would all wound them deeply. Hermione's eyes were glazed over, as if she was thinking about something. Ron's eyes were blazing with anger. He'd seen his friend's power time and again. They might not be the best of mates at the moment, but he still felt defendant on his friend's behalf. He and Hermione had their own suspicions that the man who had rescued Fred, 'Henry', was none other than their friend.  
  
Several news articles had been out, singing the praises of this mysterious man. He'd saved over fifty Aurors by now, some that had been captured for as long as ten months and were presumed dead. He wouldn't stay around long enough for anyone to ask him questions.  
  
Many people then started putting in their own opinions about Harry Potter, and a strong debate came into issue. Was he as strong as Snape thought? Or was Snape just loosing his touch? Why did Harry leave anyways? Was he a coward?  
  
Hermione was loosing her patience, and Ron's was already gone. He stood up abruptly.  
  
"Well, since none of you seem to have faith in Harry, I would hate to imagine what you think of me. I'll be going now," he said, leaving the room silent. Hermione stood up and followed him, glaring angrily at the other occupants of the room. Before she went out the door though, she turned around and added viciously, "you'd better hope I can bring him back. Actually, you better hope I want to."  
  
Minerva glanced as her former students walked out the door. This was not what she need right now. She dismissed the meeting, saying they'd meet later. Walking back to her room, she wondered for the first time if she had underestimated Harry.  
  
Unknown to Minerva, the other teachers were plotting behind her back. They wanted proof that Harry was really the powerful wizard that his friends said he was. They couldn't rely on someone who was just a fluke, now could they?  
  
Maggie didn't approve, but she sat quietly at the secret staff meeting.  
  
"We can't send him out to battle someone because if he dies then the rest of the wizarding world will die too," someone said. "We'll just have to test his powers here, someway, where he can't get hurt."  
  
"Why doesn't someone attack him by surprise?"  
  
"Or maybe ask him to demonstrate his own skills?"  
  
"How about someone duels him?" This suggestion got a good response from the small group of professors.  
  
"Well, its got to be someone who we know is powerful, like Snape or Maggie. Minerva's too old, I think."  
  
"How about Maggie? She's more powerful than Snape," someone said. They all looked towards Maggie. She was shaking her head no.  
  
"Guys, we can't just go up to him and say, 'hey want to duel me to prove your not some weakling?' We have to have a logical reason," she said, hoping to get out of it. She didn't want to beat the most known wizard in the world. It would ruin their hopes, and right now they needed every bit of hope they could get.  
  
"Why don't you say it's a demonstration? You know, for his classes? We'll have someone duel Granger so it looks like we didn't just single him out. Get Weasly or someone like that. That will be interesting. And it will provide useful examples for the kids. They'll learn how to properly duel." Sarah, the ringleader of this whole project, looked excited and smiled viciously. She was really getting into it. Maggie wondered why she even wanted to do this anyway. It was sure to ruin public morale. This just wasn't going to get them anywhere. Maggie truly felt sorry for Harry. He was just a normal wizard born unluckily into a life of fame and expectations, and this was just going to humiliate him.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Harry wiped the sweat off his brow and walked into his room, exhausted. He'd just returned from another mission. He'd found two Aurors that had been stranded and left for dead without their wands. They were barely alive when he found them, and he hoped they would survive the night.  
  
He heard a knock on the door. With a small flick of his hand, his clothes were clean and unwrinkled and the dirt and bits of blood were gone from his elbow. There had been vicious scorpions. He went over to the door and opened it, surprised to find one of the younger professors, a couple years ahead of him. He couldn't quite remember her name, Megan or Molly, or--  
  
"Harry, I'm Maggie, remember? I help out with the charms' classes?" Oh yeah, her name was Maggie. He wondered what she wanted.  
  
"Can I come in for a second?" she asked. He nodded and stepped out of the way, allowing her to come into his room.  
  
"Listen, I just want to warn you about something. Some of the professors feel that the children would benefit from a duel, so they can see how it works, and they've chosen Hermione, Ron, you and I to demonstrate. Hermione and Ron will go first, and then you and I."  
  
Harry nodded patiently, wondering what the warning was about.  
  
"I just wanted to let you know so you could prepare or something," she said quickly, her voice implying something else. Harry held back a biting remark-she thought she was going to walk all over him!  
  
"Thanks for the warning," he said. She nodded, like she'd done him some huge favor, and left quickly. Harry quickly called Hermione through the fireplace.  
  
"Mione, come here for a second, you won't believe what I was just told," he said.  
  
He waited for her to come to his room, and when she knocked, he found Ron with her as well. Both looked extremely agitated at something.  
  
"I was just informed that I'm going to duel er-Maggie, that's her name-next week sometime. It's supposed to be a demonstration for our classes." He relayed the rest of the conversation to them, and the angry look in Hermione's eyes flared up again.  
  
"I'll bet you anything that horrid Toombs woman is behind this. We just came from a particularly frustrating staff meeting, which by the way, you missed."  
  
Harry's looked darkened. "I was busy."  
  
"Well, anyways, it revolved mostly around you." She explained what had happened at the meeting, and Harry was shocked to find that Snape was standing up for him.  
  
"Snape? As in our evil greasy-haired potions professor? Hmmm, very ironic. He's the first person to do so." An angry look came onto his face, which was quickly wiped away and replaced by a cheerful one.  
  
"So, dinner anyone? I'm bloody hungry," he said, leaving two guilty friends behind.  
  
Dinner was a tense affair, but no one, not even Harry, was prepared for what happened.  
  
As the trio approached the staff table, all conversation fell silent. Harry acted as if nothing was going on, and went to sit by Snape. The professor looked shocked as Harry turned to talk to him.  
  
"So, Snape, how were your classes today? Irritate anyone? No? Hmm, guess you were too busy defending me. Thanks for that, by the way," he said, good-naturedly. Snape just glared at him, which, for some reason, made Harry's smile wider. He turned to Malfoy, who was on the other side of him.  
  
"How was the staff meeting?" he asked innocently. Malfoy choked on his food and started coughing.  
  
"Fine, Potter," he said. Another voice stepped into the conversation.  
  
"Of course, you wouldn't know because you were skiving off somewhere, Potter."  
  
Harry's grin disappeared, and he turned to look at Toombs, who was standing over him.  
  
"Why should I be present for a meeting where I don't talk?" he asked.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Hermione and Ron glanced over at their friend, who was now in a heated conversation with Toombs. Why he had chosen to sit with Malfoy and Snape baffled Ron. Who would willingly sit by both Slytherins? Ron caught part of their conversation.  
  
"I have every right to talk to you like that," Harry said, angrily. "If it seems disrespectful, that's because it's meant to be. You can't demand respect, you earn it."  
  
The whole time Hermione had know Toombs, which wasn't very long ('thankfully'), she had never seen the witch speechless. Toombs stuttered for a bit before glaring at Harry and changing the subject.  
  
"You are under my supervision, Potter, and I would suggest you-" whatever she was going to suggest he do was interrupted by the slamming of the doors to the Great Hall. A large man with a red complexion stormed into the Great Hall, looking for someone.  
  
"Where the hell is Harry Potter?"  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Harry groaned inwardly, this was not what he needed right now. What was Richard, his boss, doing at Hogwarts anyway? Wasn't he still supposed to be in America?  
  
"Who are you and what do you need with Harry Potter?" Minerva asked cautiously.  
  
"I'm Rich, supervisor of the ALA. I need to speak with him," he said, his face getting redder.  
  
"What would the ALA want with Potter?" asked Toombs viciously. The ALA was the American League of Aurors, the best group of Aurors around the world (besides those left at Hogwarts). They were responsible for nearly seventy percent of all Death Eaters captured or killed. The Aurors in the ALA were recruited from all over the world, so technically they weren't the 'American' group of Aurors.  
  
Richard had spotted Harry and totally ignored Toombs, which seemed to irritate her greatly.  
  
"Potter, we need to speak. Privately," he added. Toombs cleared her throat loudly, and Harry's boss turned around, as if he just remembered she was there. Then, much to Harry's dismay, he got an evil gleam in his eyes. Harry let his temper get the best of him.  
  
"I think, Sarah," Harry said, almost spitting her name, "that this is a matter between 'Rich' and I. It is, if I may say so, none of your bloody business." Harry glared at Toombs, and then his boss, who was surveying the situation with humor.  
  
"What do you mean 'what would the ALA want with Potter'? He's the head Auror!" 


	6. Reactions

AN: Here's everyone's reaction to Harry's job. Thanks a bunch to reviewers! :) I know it took me a while to update, but I was busy with a marine biology course in the Florida Keys.  
  
"HE'S WHAT?"  
  
This seemed to be the reaction of everyone within hearing distance. Harry looked around at their stunned faces, halfway annoyed with his boss, halfway wishing for a camera. Minerva looked confused and very shocked at the same time. Ron's jaw had dropped and he was stuttering wordlessly. Snape looked better than most of the professors, but even the older man was staring at Harry with somewhat of a surprised look. Hermione looked over at him, awed, but not shocked. It seemed like she had heard something before hand.  
  
Harry had to hold in a laugh at Toombs' expression. The woman had a look on her face of utter disbelief and shock. She seemed to come to her senses, and looked at the large man that was Harry's boss.  
  
"I don't know how much he paid you to come here and do this, but we don't believe a word of it. I would suggest you leave now. You don't need to waste anymore time here," she said, in a very condescending manner. Instead of being offended, Harry's boss just grinned at the woman, making him look a bit crazy. He didn't usually smile very often.  
  
"Well, I'll go, so long as I can talk to Potter. Don't really wanna spend anymore time around you than I've got to. Too much of a snooping bitch for my tastes. Need to keep your over-large nose in your own business," he said. McGonagall snorted at this, and Hermione tried (and failed) to contain a huge grin. Ron, however, was not so subtle, and burst out loud with laughter. Toombs looked too shocked for words. Harry imagined it had been a while since someone had dared to insult her-at least to her face.  
  
Rich's glare returned as he turned to speak to Harry. "Let's go, Potter."  
  
Suddenly Maggie (yeah, that was her name) stepped in.  
  
"Sir, Mr. er-Rich. You may use our side room here, if you'd like. I'm afraid we don't need Mr. Potter running off on us again," she said patronizingly, pointing to the side room. Hermione sent her a glare that would have fazed Malfoy (back in the day), but the girl didn't pay any attention to Hermione.  
  
Richard seemed fine to discuss whatever he needed to in the side room, so Harry followed him into the same room that he was led into during the Triwizard tournament.  
  
As soon as he shut the door, the whispers started.  
  
"That is just absolutely bogus. I won't believe it!" Three guesses as to who that was.  
  
"The ALA? Was Harry even in America?" someone asked.  
  
"How in the world did Potter become the head Auror for the ALA?" Malfoy asked Ron. Ron just shrugged.  
  
"I dunno, he always talked about being an Auror after school, but I never really thought he would. It's hard to be an Auror when every Death Eater is after your blood, you know?" Ron said.  
  
"Yeah, but how did he do it? He wasn't that good in school, and then even during those Death Eater attacks..." Malfoy trailed off, confused. "I mean, how did he get into the top Auror branch in the world? Probably used his name," he said, grumbling. "He is the famous 'boy-who-lived',"  
  
Hermione butt into their conversation. "Don't you remember the Death Eater attacks?"  
  
Malfoy shook his head 'no'. "Don't you remember them, Granger? Potter was stuck in the castle the whole time. He just sat there beside Dumbledore doing nothing," he said, a bit bitterly.  
  
Ron was the one to contradict Malfoy this time. "Er-actually, Malfoy, he did a lot more then just 'sit around'," he said. "We weren't actually supposed to tell anyone, for his safety reasons, but now....I guess it won't hurt. Hmmm, how do I start..."  
  
"As you know, Harry has dreams," Hermione started.  
  
"Dreams that are more like visions," Ron said, interrupting her. "He's had them ever since you-know-who-"  
  
"Voldemort, Ron, his name is Voldemort," Hermione interrupted him. "Ever since Voldemort got his powers back in our fourth year, he's had these visions. And they often are true. Either he dreams about a meeting that's going on right at that moment or-"  
  
"You mean Potter could see Death Eater meetings?" Malfoy asked incredulously.  
  
"Yes, but he also had visions of what was going to happen. Like an attack," she said. "Eventually, they became too much for him, and he started taking Dreamless Sleep potion so he could get some rest. He-"  
  
"If he had visions of attacks, why didn't he see the Hogesmade attack?" Malfoy asked.  
  
"If you would stop interrupting me, I could finish, Malfoy," she said testily. "Like I was going to say, the reason he didn't see some of the attacks was because he had to take the potion. He couldn't predict all of the attacks because he didn't dream about them. After the first couple of surprise Death Eater attacks, which started in our seventh year, Harry decided he wanted to help out. The only problem with him helping the Order was that he was the most known person in the whole wizarding world. If the Death Eaters found out he was helping the Auror raids, he could have been in very serious danger."  
  
"Well, more danger than he already was, Hermione," Ron said. "Dumbledore wanted to keep him safe, but Harry wouldn't hear of it. Eventually Dumbledore agreed, but it was only because we desperately needed help. Harry had to go undercover, with a Glamour and everything. To keep up appearances, Dumbledore had someone take Polyjuice potion and pose as Harry during the attacks."  
  
"We worked as a team, the three of us. Harry, Ron and I brought in a lot of Death Eaters, you know. I assume that's why everyone was so excited when we came back to Hogwarts." Here she paused for a moment, before continuing, as if something had just occurred to her.  
  
"It seems a bit odd that everyone greeted us like that, though, because our names were never released. We never told anyone who we were-well, we couldn't, for Harry's sake," she said, frowning thoughtfully. "I wonder how the public found out?"  
  
Her wonderings were brought to a halt when Harry walked out-no, correction- stormed out of the small room. The room fell quiet. His boss, Rich, had followed him out, looking just as angry as Harry.  
  
"Now Potter, you see here-this wasn't my idea. You screwed up, and now you gotta pay for it."  
  
"I was not the one who left it at the headquarters, was I? No, I was in Albania, tracking down some stupid Death Eaters because you couldn't get your lazy, sorry excuse for an assistant to get me the message in time! And now, after two months, you come here telling me *I* screwed up? I've never...completely rash....stupid, bloody idiot.." Harry seemed to be too angry to form a complete sentence.  
  
"Potter, you listen to me-I'm not gonna take no for an answer- either you do it or you can find yourself hunting down Cornish pixies in the Arctic for the rest of your life. It's your choice."  
  
With that, Harry's boss walked out the door, leaving a stunned group of teachers and a very angry Harry Potter.  
  
~~~Before~~~  
  
When Harry closed the door to the small room, Rich wasted no time with small talk.  
  
"Potter, the Death Eaters got a hold of the list of all the Aurors you've got working under you," he said grimly.  
  
Harry stared in shock. "How? It wasn't really ever recorded, was it?"  
  
Rich sighed, and looked a bit angry. "Yes, Potter, it was and unfortunately the list was found missing from Corbin's desk about two days after you took off. He tried to contact you, but you weren't available. I'm here to tell you that you need to repair the damage you've done."  
  
"Damage I've done? Do you know what I've been doing these past two months?" he said lividly.  
  
"Yes, don't think I didn't recognize your fighting style. However; helpful as you may be, you still need to fix the situation in America," Rich responded.  
  
"It's not my situation to fix, Rich. I would not leave something like that just laying around!" Harry was starting to get angry. He was being accused of something he hadn't done.  
  
"Potter-listen to me. The last person to see it before the break in was you. That leaves you responsible."  
  
"I DIDN'T SCREW UP! I DID NOT LEAVE THE LIST ON CORBIN'S DESK, AND I WILL NOT LEAVE HOGWARTS WHEN THEY NEED ME TO FIX YOUR STUPID SECRETARY'S MISTAKE!"  
  
With that he stormed out of the room, too angry to care what his boss had to say.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Hermione walked to the portrait that guarded the entrance to Harry's rooms. The portrait oddly reminded her of Dumbledore, but the man in the painting was very young, maybe late thirties. The things that had caught her eye when she first saw the painting were the twinkling, blue eyes. This portrait, unlike the rest of the paintings in the school, did not talk.  
  
She had looked all over the school for him-her and Ron. They'd tried the Quidditch Pitch, Hagrid's hut, even the Forbidden Forrest. Why they had chosen to search his rooms last was a mystery to Hermione.  
  
"Harry? Are you there?" she called.  
  
No response.  
  
"Harry? Come on, I know you're there."  
  
Still no response.  
  
She started knocking on the portrait again, getting a bit agitated.  
  
"Harry Potter! I know you're in there and I'm not moving until you answer me!"  
  
"Attempting to break into my rooms, Mione?" a voice asked behind her. She whirled around, half surprised, half embarrassed. She cleared her throat.  
  
"Er, well, I was looking for you-"  
  
"Yes, that much is evident," he said, with a small grin on her face. She scowled at him.  
  
"Don't you laugh at me," she said sternly. "You stormed out of the Great Hall so fast I thought your knickers were on fire!"  
  
He frowned at the mention of the Great Hall.  
  
"Well, I wasn't too happy with Rich, right then," he said, sarcastically. "He really knows how to piss someone off."  
  
He tapped the portrait guarding his rooms two times with his wand and muttered, "Padfoot". The portrait swung open to reveal his messy rooms. There were robes all over the floor, covered in what suspiciously looked like blood. A dozen books lay open on the floor, which appeared to be the books that couldn't fit on the small desk in the corner.  
  
Parchment was lying everywhere. She caught part of the writing on one piece ('third list of reformed Death Eaters') before Harry waved his wand, and everything disappeared with a 'pop', leaving his room spotless.  
  
"Come on in," he said.  
  
Hermione frowned, but entered. Why was his room so messy? Wasn't she just here hours ago? It hadn't been this messy before.  
  
"Harry, what happened to your room?" she asked.  
  
Harry glanced at her. "Er, sorry about that. I came back here right after the meeting with Rich. I was looking for-um, something."  
  
She looked at where the robes had been.  
  
"Harry, what about the robes? Was that your blood on them?" she asked.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Er--" Harry cursed his messy habits. He'd forgotten about the robes. "Yeah, I had an encounter with some vicious scorpions earlier," he said. Well, it wasn't a lie.  
  
She looked at him suspiciously. "And one can find loads of scorpions around here, can they?" she said sarcastically. "And unless Hagrid kept his blast-ended skrewts, which I know he didn't, there isn't a scorpion big enough to do that kind of damage. Well, except for the fire scorpions, but I've read they only live in Albania, and you haven't..." she trailed off. "Wait a minute! Harry!"  
  
Harry groaned. She that gaze in her eye-the look she got when she had just figured out something.  
  
"You were-Daily Profit reported-I knew that it sounded like your-wait 'til I tell Ron-"  
  
"Hermione-now, just hold on. You need to slow down. I can't follow you when you babble like that," he said. She sent him a *look*, but continued on in a more logical manner. Logical for her, anyway.  
  
"Harry, it all makes sense! Well, most of it. The staff meetings, the scorpions, Albania and what you said earlier in the Great Hall-hey!" she interrupted herself with another thought. "I asked Minerva if you were an Auror earlier. I was right!"  
  
*~*~*  
  
"I won't believe it! Just look at him! Too scrawny, not powerful enough, take your pick. There is absolutely no way he could become the head Auror for the ALA!"  
  
Sarah Toombs was livid. That large cow of a man had walked in, proclaimed the most unbelievable of statements, and insulted her, and everyone was ready to believe him over her.  
  
She and several other professors were in Sarah's private quarters discussing Harry Potter. Most of the same professors that had decided earlier that Harry should duel Maggie were included in this little group discussion. The man (who claimed to be 'Rich') had caused mixed feelings about their clever 'plan'.  
  
"Listen, if Harry really is the head Auror, he'd have no trouble beating Maggie. And if he isn't, we can expose him for the fraud he is." However impersonal this had started out to be, Sarah Toombs now felt it her life goal to show the public the 'true' Harry Potter.  
  
Maggie, of course, was starting to dislike the plan. If Harry really was the head Auror, he could blow her to smithereens. Of course, this could be a plea for attention, she mused. She agreed to keep her part in this little scheme. They agreed to inform Harry a day before the duel was to take place, so he wouldn't have too much time to prepare. If he truly was an Auror, Sara explained, he wouldn't need any preparation time at all.  
  
AN: Not much happening in this chapter, I know, but wait for the next one: Unexpected Defeat 


	7. Unexpected Defeat

AN: All right: since my reviewers wanted this chapter-here it is early. Longest chapter so far. Enjoy! :)  
  
A week had passed since the incident with Rich, and Harry was about ready to kill the man for showing up at Hogwarts. All of the professors had found out that he was the head Auror for the ALA (not that all believed him, mind you). They were all constantly asking questions, and it was really starting to drain on Harry's patience. However, by some miraculous event, the students had not discovered Harry's secret. He was extremely thankful for that because he was still teaching classes with Hermione. Toombs, of course, was still hovering over his lessons, trying to discredit Harry whenever possible. He was thankful that it was the end of the week, which meant no more classes until Monday. Of course, he still had to get through a sixth year class of Slytherins and Gryffindors, whose animosity seemed to have reached an all time high.  
  
Hermione had taken this class the past three times, so she thought it only fair that Harry took a turn. She informed him, while grinning, that she'd be in the back if he needed any help keeping them in line. Somehow the grin did nothing to alleviate his worries about the class.  
  
He walked into the classroom to find most of the class waiting for him. They were not waiting quietly though. From what he could gather, a Gryffindor boy had insulted a Slytherin boy and the Slytherin had tried to hex the Gryffindor, though the hex strayed from its original target and hit a different Gryffindor. It had caused an out break of curses, hexes, and spells to fly through the air. Harry cleared his throat loudly, and the whole class had stopped abruptly. Well, all but two boys stopped their fighting. The two boys, however, had given up on hexing each other and were going at each other with their fists. One boy had a bloody nose while the other had a bad black eye forming already.  
  
"Get to your seats immediately." The two boys jumped at his voice. "The classroom is no place for fighting. Mr. Dyre, Mr. Caddle, you will see the nurse after class. You boys are lucky that the lesson today happens to be about healing. In your seats, boys," Harry said. "Oh, and twenty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin for misconduct in a classroom," he added, as a side thought. They weren't the first points he'd had to take from this class.  
  
"All right, like I said before, we will be focusing on healing magic for the next week. These different spells could one day save your life. We will be focusing on only three spells-a small drop in the lake, let me assure you. For those who find this to their liking, Madame Pomfry is always looking for an assistant, and I'm sure she'd be more that happy to teach you a couple things."  
  
The lesson started out very smooth. No fights had broken out, no one had been cursed or hexed. With any other class, Harry would have been pleased with the progress made by the class. However, with this particular class, he was very suspicious. Why were they so cooperative all of the sudden? He thought back to previous classes, but he couldn't remember a single class that had been going as well as this one had-not even the first lesson when the students were too awed by the famous Harry Potter to fight with each other.  
  
Their school rivalry had reached an all time high. The only thing Harry could compare it to was his own rivalry with Malfoy years before, and, going back further, his dad and Snape's rivalry. The natural balance of the school was always threatened by the fighting houses, but maybe the fighting between Gryffindor and Slytherin was what kept the balance in Hogwarts. Harry supposed that fighting with the Slytherins was as natural as eating and breathing to the students in Gryffindor. It had certainly seemed that way when he was in school.  
  
Then it had seemed normal to argue. Now it was just bloody irritating. Continuous fighting seemed a part of life for these kids, even in their classes. The hexing and cursing had gotten so bad one transfiguration class that Minerva was forced to end class early to send numerous students to Madame Pomfry. Harry hadn't noticed the fighting when he had first arrived, but now he wondered how he could have missed it.  
  
This, of course, was the reason Harry was nervous. He had no idea why his students were actually behaving themselves. Casting suspicious glances around his room, he watched as the students tried to perform the second healing spell he'd taught them. It was one of the more simple healing spells, used to stop a wound from bleeding. Harry allowed the class to cast the spell on their (very willing) classmates who had been roughed up in the earlier scuffle. Surprisingly enough, most of his class had grasped the concept by the end of class. He allowed them to talk freely among themselves for the last couple minutes.  
  
After waiting about two minutes in silence, the class started whispering ferociously. The quiet whispers soon turned into louder whispers. Some students began to talk at a normal volume, but their tone of voice was anything but normal. Angry overtones could definitely be detected, and the class seemed to be arguing about something. Even though Harry had a bad headache, he was more than relieved to find his class acting normal again- not that he was happy about them arguing, he wasn't-but honestly, he could handle the arguing. He had no idea how to handle the cooperative silence that had been going on before.  
  
"Care to explain why you have so much faith in your 'hero', Bertram?" a boy (that reminded Harry of Malfoy) said to another boy.  
  
"I don't have to explain that he's the best wizard in this school-its just given. Of course, I could ask you the same about that slime ball that calls himself our potions instructor. He's nothing but a slimy grease ball. Don't know why you think he's great. He was a Slytherin, after all," the boy shot back.  
  
"Well, I think Professor Granger top them both, any day. Everyone knows that she's the smartest witch to ever graduate from Hogwarts. Better grades than both Malfoy and-" The girl was cut off by the end of class. Harry shooed his class out of the classroom, looking over at Hermione. She had been sitting at his desk for nearly the entire lesson, but she seemed to be less unnerved by the class's unusual behavior than Harry was.  
  
"Well, I'd say they're finally learning to stand one another, don't you think?" she asked, joking.  
  
"I think you're too optimistic," he said in a serious voice. "Let's head to lunch, I'm starving."  
  
****  
  
Hermione, like Harry, had noticed the silence of the class. She had interpreted the silence differently than Harry though. The kids seemed too angry beyond words to trade insults with one another-thus the reason for their silence. Harry was just a little-dense-at times. He hadn't recognized the tension that had occupied the whole class. They needed to do something about the students before the rift between the two houses became permanent.  
  
Once they reached the Great Hall, Harry took a seat beside Ron, who was busy shoveling food in his mouth as fast as humanly possible. He tried to stop to say hello, but he ended up choking on whatever disgusting thing he had shoved in his mouth seconds before. Hacking and coughing, Ron settled for a small wave before taking a drink of pumpkin juice and starting in again.  
  
"You think he would learn," Harry said, laughing at Ron, "that the human body can only swallow half a sandwich at a time."  
  
"Humph," Hermione grunted, "doesn't matter what age they get-the male gender will always inhale food faster than they can shovel it in."  
  
"Yeah, but it improves with age-more can go in when you're twenty five compared to when you're fifteen," Harry said, grinning.  
  
"Perhaps it's the company you keep, Granger, and not the entire population the male gender that you find disgusting," a voice drawled. Harry rolled his eyes. He knew that voice all too well. It was Malfoy. "Of course, one would expect no more from you, given your descent."  
  
"At leas' 'uh company she keeps knows 'ow 'oo shower e'ery once 'n a while, Mal'oy," Ron said, managing to spray both Hermione and Malfoy with the food still in his mouth. Ron swallowed and continued. "Unlike Snape, who doesn't seem to know what soap is, we bathe every day."  
  
"Somehow your words loose their effect when they're sprayed with lamb and potatoes, Weasly," Malfoy said, disgusted as he wiped the food off his face. Ron's ears turned red, but any comeback was interrupted by Hermione.  
  
"Honestly, you two are acting like we're in school again-('technically, we are' Ron mumbled)-how do you expect the children to ever cooperate together if their professors are setting a bad example? It's important that we all work together now, especially now, and it's not helping the situation any that you two can't hold a decent conversation with out arguing," she said, scolding the two men like they were children.  
  
Hermione was frustrated. No one understood that they needed to stick together. Voldemort had gathered a lot of strength over the years, and yet everyone didn't seem to care. They went on, arguing, splitting the gap even further than it had been.  
  
"Hermione, they're not hexing each other. These arguments are the only way Ron and Malfoy know how to hold a conversation with each other. Relax, it's not that big of a deal," Harry said.  
  
"Harry, that's just the type of attitude that's going to kill us! When it comes down to it, do you think Ron's willing to trust Malfoy with his life? With other people's lives? How are they going to fight together if they can't manage to hold a decent conversation together?"  
  
Hermione's ranting was cut off by a voice she'd come to hate.  
  
"How did classes go today, Professor Potter? Hope you managed without me," Toombs said in a drawling voice she seemed to have acquired from Malfoy, a fake smile on her face. "I made sure the lesson was one of the easier ones today-but I was still worried."  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and Ron was about to tell the woman where she could go, but Harry stepped in first.  
  
"Oh, we managed fine, didn't we Hermione?" he said, with a cheeky grin on his face. Hermione nodded slowly, not understanding the reason behind the grin.  
  
"Of course, we didn't do the lesson you planned-I had other things on my agenda. We just couldn't squeeze in-" he cleared his throat and rolled his eyes, "-'the proper techniques and rules of dueling'. I've always found those rules to be an absolute waste of time."  
  
Toombs lost her fake grin that had been plastered on her face. "Potter, I've designed those lesson plans for over five years now. A lower professor like yourself has no right to go and change them. They include everything that is vital and important to-"  
  
"-absolutely nothing, Toombs," Harry interrupted. "Those rules of dueling will get you killed with a real Death Eater. They don't wait for you to bow, politely shake hands, and then duel. They aren't going to respect your wishes for a fare fight. They're going to kill you. Please excuse me if I think silly rules a waste of my time," he said, very sarcastically.  
  
"And you consider yourself an expert dueler, do you? I don't think schoolboy fights count as duels, Potter," Toombs said mockingly.  
  
Harry glared at her, but she continued on before he could retort.  
  
"Why don't you show us all your brilliant dueling skills, Potter? Tomorrow would be a perfect opportunity for you to show us all your," here she rolled her eyes, "remarkable dueling skills you claim to have, and it will also provide my classes with the proper lesson they need in dueling."  
  
Harry looked taken aback by the sudden direction the conversation took, but he quickly regained his composure and said, "Of course, I'd be delighted to help out. Anything for the students. Unfortunately, I won't be here tomorrow. I think I informed you about two weeks ago that I'd be gone this weekend, didn't I?"  
  
Toombs' eyes narrowed. By the glare in her eyes, Harry guessed she had forgotten.  
  
"Well then, we'll schedule it for Monday." She then lowered her voice, so that only Harry could hear her. "And on Monday, the whole school will know just what a fake you are, Potter. Enjoy your last peaceful weekend," she hissed, her voice dripping with venom. She abruptly turned and walked away.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Ron had heard all of the conversation between Harry and the vile Toombs. His eyes narrowed in anger as he thought of all the times Harry had been pushed around by some ungrateful person like Toombs. Ron didn't know why that woman got under his skin. The only thing she'd done to Ron was to insult his sister numerous times. He didn't know why it bothered him so. The only logical explanation for why he was so angry was that he was mad on Harry's behalf. Ron wondered why Harry didn't just pull out his wand and blast the woman into tiny pieces. He knew Harry could do it, because he'd seen Harry blow away Death Eaters like they were nothing. He knew Harry wasn't a violent person by nature, and that was probably why Toombs was still in one piece. Ron knew that if he were Harry, he'd make it so Toombs wouldn't show her face anywhere again.  
  
Of course, that was the difference between him and Harry. He tended to do things on impulse, acting first, thinking later. It was a Gryffindor habit- it was what they were famous for. Harry would usually think before acting, though Ron knew that Harry acted on impulse when dueling Death Eaters.  
  
After dinner was over, Hermione came up to him and quietly told he and Harry to meet her in her rooms. Ten minutes later, he was sitting comfortably on one of her couches, wondering what she wanted. Harry sat across from Ron, ready to fall asleep.  
  
"'Mione, what is this about? I want to get some sleep in before I go and visit Sirius this weekend." Sirius had left about a month ago on business, and Harry wanted to see his godfather. He had some things to discuss with him.  
  
"This is about that horrid woman Toombs. She's trying to humiliate you, Harry, and she's not going to stop until she does. This duel is just a way to prove you're not as powerful as you say you are, don't you see?"  
  
"What's your point, Hermione? Harry knows all of this," Ron said, impatiently.  
  
"Ron, my point is this: why should we let her dictate the duel? Why don't we take it into our own hands?"  
  
Harry glanced at her suspiciously. "What do you mean, Hermione?"  
  
"Well, you can obviously beat Maggie, you and I both know that. There wouldn't be any point for you to just beat her senseless. However...Toombs thinks there is to be a second duel between myself and Ron, right?"  
  
Ron nodded, remembering Toombs' awful screeching earlier. (He believed it was, 'And after Maggie beats Potter, you two can show the children what a real duel is like', or something of that nature).  
  
"Yeah, so?" Ron said.  
  
"Well, what if we incorporate a team duel into our second duel? Include some of the other professors, to show the students what teamwork can accomplish," she said. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Plus, it will exterminate any lingering doubts about us, am I right, Mione?" he said slyly. She turned red but refused to admit he was right.  
  
After about a minute of thinking, Harry sighed. "All right, do what you want. I'm going to get some sleep."  
  
He got up and started to walk out of the room.  
  
"Hey Harry?" Hermione called.  
  
"Yeah?" he said, turning around.  
  
"Bring Sirius back with you," she said. "I'm sure he'll want to see this."  
  
Harry frowned. "He was planning to come back anyways, for business reasons," he said. "Why would he care about a duel?"  
  
Hermione shrugged. "No reason, I just thought he'd want to see you in action."  
  
As soon as Harry left, Ron turned to Hermione. "All right, what did you leave out?" he asked, suspicious of her.  
  
"Well, the teams for the second duel will include some people that might change the way everyone looks at Harry. If we can beat them, maybe the people will start to leave Harry alone about the whole 'head Auror' thing. He's getting sick of it, in case you haven't noticed."  
  
"Well, yeah, but....all right, who did you have in mind?"  
  
"Just some people that I need you to contact," she said. "Most of them are already here at Hogwarts."  
  
```~~~```  
  
Harry found Sirius still sleeping when he arrived Saturday morning. He grinned mischievously as he pulled out his wand and shot a stream of cold water onto the sleeping Sirius. Sirius yelped, shooting straight out of bed. When he saw Harry, he glared at his godson.  
  
"You could have just woken me up the normal way, you know," he said, grumpily.  
  
Harry grinned. "I know, but that is so much more fun."  
  
The rest of the day wasn't spent smiling, though. After Sirius had changed, they both headed straight for his office.  
  
"So, what do you need to know?"  
  
"I need to find out if there is any way that a list could be made of all the Aurors for one branch of the Ministry. Someone made a list of everyone who works under me, and somehow Death Eaters got a hold of it. The Aurors on that list are in serious danger, as are their families. My boss thinks that I was lazy and left the list lying around-truth is, Sirius, that I never made a list. The person who reported it missing was his assistant, but that lazy excuse for a man has no idea who is working for me. I want to know if there was any way he could track people in and out of my office, and keep a list with out my knowledge."  
  
Harry had come to Sirius because Sirius had acquired many books on magical tracking over the years. The man had almost become obsessed with tracking Wormtail a couple years back, and it was all Harry could do to keep him from going crazy with the search. However, in the process of tracking Wormtail, his godfather had become an expert at tracking people.  
  
"Let me see, Harry, come help me look in here." Sirius's office was a little less than what one would call 'tidy', so it took Harry hours before he found the right information. Once he did, he paled. If the information he'd found was right, his Aurors were in a lot of danger. He'd have to contact his boss immediately.  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall on Monday morning with a grim expression on his face. Rich was being a stubborn ass and refused to believe that his assistant that he'd had for fifteen years was betraying him. Needless to say, Harry was not happy at being called a liar, and he had flown off the handle at his boss. Now he was stuck trying to find a way to alert his Aurors and let them know about the situation. Toombs stood up after breakfast on Monday and made an announcement to the whole Great Hall.  
  
"Students and staff, today your Defense classes will be held all at once right in here. Now, with the permission of Headmistress McGonagall, there are going to be two demonstration duels. Now even though they are demonstration, they are full power, no rules what so ever. Only the killing and the cruciatus curses are not allowed, though one may use the Imperious curse. Our two demonstration groups consist of your defense professors, your charms mistress, and an Auror." She was about to say more, but Hermione cut her off. Time to play by their rules.  
  
"As Sarah was saying, we will be demonstrating to you the real aspects of a duel. There will be a protective shield up to block any curses from hitting you, but I would suggest that you back up. Harry if you would clear a space please?" she asked, and then continued while Harry shrunk the tables and sent them to the back.  
  
"Now, like Sarah said, there will be two duels. One, between Harry and Professor Sage, is a single duel involving two wizards/ witches. The second will be a team duel, a duel that is between more than two people. The people must use teamwork effectively for everyone to remain safe and alive," she said, apparently oblivious to the shocked looks she received from the other staff members. They hadn't known about that part of the plan. Inside Hermione was grinning. The extra people they'd asked to come, such as Sirius and Charlie, would soon find out they were to be more than just observers.  
  
"First, would Harry and Maggie please step into the center of the room please? Students, please take your seats back here please."  
  
Harry stepped into the center along with Maggie. She was giving him sympathetic glances. He rolled his eyes. The girl thought very highly of herself. He went up to her before they started.  
  
"I was just wondering if wandless magic was allowed?" Maggie nodded, confused. She obviously thought Dumbledore was the only wizard besides Voldemort that could do wandless magic.  
  
"Duelers, take your positions," Hermione said. Harry and Maggie faced each other, and then they started.  
  
Maggie started with an easy disarming charm to warm up, one that Harry easily blocked and dissipated. He didn't send any charms back at her, just waited for her to make the next move. She sent a stunner towards him, one he blocked with a shield and reflected back towards her. He didn't actually cast any charms himself. Maggie threw a hex at him, one that rendered the victim blind. This hex was also reflected back to the owner. Maggie tried several different hexes, only to dodge them as they came back towards her.  
  
Meanwhile, Hermione was explaining different strategies ('this strategy is effective on opponents who are very impatient. One dueler simply waits for the other to grow irritated and careless. This strategy is risky because you never know how much time you're going to get.)  
  
This happened for a while, Maggie would send curses towards him and he would simple block them. He didn't return a single curse.  
  
````****````  
  
Maggie was annoyed. He thought he could just sit back and relax? Didn't he know who he was up against? And if he was really head Auror for the ALA, like she'd been hearing the past couple weeks, shouldn't he have incinerated her by now? He was waiting for her to make the next move, like he had all the time in the world. On his face was the smallest of grins. Maggie's eyes narrowed. He was too smug, smiling like he'd already won. Well, she'd wipe that smile off his face. She wanted to catch him off guard. Time to step it up notch.  
  
"Flitura!" she said. It was the only shield-breaking curse, determined to break all shields for at least ten seconds. His shield dropped, but he didn't seem fazed. She growled and immediately sent another curse towards him.  
  
"Melotitandra!" That was a common curse that would send the opponent flying on their back, and usually knocked them unconscious. Harry quickly dodged it, still not sending back a curse. Maggie grew very irritated. Why didn't he just do something?  
  
"Imperio!" she said, putting her full power behind it.  
  
````****````  
  
Harry felt the warm sensation flush over him, and it was quite powerful, but not nearly as powerful as Voldemort's had been. He quickly threw it of, and faced his opponent, still grinning, though it wasn't a nice grin. Maggie looked quite surprised that he'd been able to throw off the curse, but she hid her surprise it behind a hex, one that rendered the victim blind and deaf for a matter of minutes. He sent his shield up again, and he rebounded the curse back to her. She quickly set up her own shield, and managed to block it.  
  
Harry had yet to send his own hex out, and he could tell Maggie was growing frustrated.  
  
"Dammit Potter, is this a real duel or not?" she hissed. "Too scared to try anything?"  
  
She sent another curse towards him, this time it would paralyze the person waste down. Sort of like the leg-locker curse, but the victim couldn't hop. Harry sent that back at her with his shield. He narrowed his eyebrows at her words. That woman deserved a taste of her own medicine. She was a powerful witch, he would admit that much, but he'd show Toombs that her prized 'Maggie' couldn't beat him.  
  
The next hex she sent he returned swiftly, and then immediately followed it with three of his own spells (wandlessly, mind you), right in a row. Maggie had expected him to return her curse with his shield, but she had not been expecting those three spells.  
  
The first broke her shield, the second disarmed her, and the third sent her unconscious. She was very surprised. Harry looked over at Toombs, who appeared shocked the duel was over so quickly. The crowd, on the other hand, was confused. Harry was supposed to be powerful. Why hadn't he used more complex spells than just a simple 'Expelleriamus' and 'Stupify'? Was it possible that he wasn't as powerful as everyone said he was? They, of course, hadn't noticed that the last three spells had been without a wand.  
  
This was the reaction Toombs was hoping to get, thought Maggie, when Harry revived her. And this was the reaction she was afraid of. Even if she had lost, he'd only beat her with first year spells. It was very humiliating, though, to be beaten with such horribly easy spells.  
  
Harry just smiled, and turned to look at Hermione, who was hiding a grin. Ron looked over at Harry as well with a grin on his face as well.  
  
"Nice try Maggie, you kept me on my feet," he said graciously, shaking her hand. She nodded gruffly back at him, though inside she was still confused. Just how had he beaten her with such a simple spell, anyways?  
  
Hermione walked to the center where they were standing. "Any questions before we move onto the next duel?" she asked, knowing there was one question that no one was brave enough to ask.  
  
Well, no one stupid enough but a boy that reminded Hermione of Malfoy.  
  
"I have a question, Professor Granger," he said, disrespect in his voice. "If Potter claims to be so powerful, how come he used measly first year spells? Why didn't he knock her flat? Is it possible that the 'boy-who- lived' isn't as powerful as he would like us to think? "  
  
Harry had a short answer for him. "It was not necessary to use powerful spells. I used what spells were effective." This was not the answer people were looking for, so he elaborated.  
  
"If you can beat your opponent with a 'Stupify', why waste your energy on a 'molterista'? Just because you have the ability to perform complex spells does not mean you need to use them. However, I see your point. I certainly would not have that much time on a battle field, so then it would be required that I use a more offensive spell rather than the shielding spell."  
  
Toombs was scowling. He hadn't proven anything, just skated around the issue. So far, she was right. She hadn't seen any proof of actual power, just some quick wand work on his part.  
  
"Well, to make up for a lack of excitement, let's see this team duel Professor Granger has mentioned," Toombs said, her voice sarcastic. It's biting tone had no effect on Hermione, who kept her small smile on her face.  
  
"If you insist, Sarah," she said, using the witch's first name. "All right. We've already decided the teams, if it's all right with you. If I call your name and you are willing to participate, please come into the center. Sirius Black, Minerva McGonagall, Maggie Sage, Arthur Weasly, Charlie Weasly." she went on to name twenty different people, all of whom were considered to be the top wizards and witches of the light side. "...Draco Malfoy, Molly Weasly, and Severus Snape. If you would all please step into the center of the room, you will all be the first team. You may use any curse, hex, or spell that you so desire, save the Cruciatus curse and the killing curse. Now for the second team."  
  
She cleared her throat and paused. Harry was scowling a bit because she hadn't discussed this part of the plan with him, but he was having a hard time staying mad at her. After all, what better way to get Toombs to shut up than to defeat some of the great wizards and witches of the time? 'We'll have to be bloody awesome today' he thought. 'This is going to be one of the hardest duels yet.'  
  
Ron was holding in laughter. He couldn't wait to see everyone's reactions. Now was their chance to prove themselves.  
  
The rest of the room was buzzing with whispers. Who was left to fight these great wizards and witches? There was hardly anyone left. They all waited in silence for Hermione to announce the second team.  
  
"The second team will include Ronald Weasly, Harry Potter, and myself." The room waited for her to continue, then broke out into laughter as soon as they realized that she was done. Hermione held up her hand for silence.  
  
"I don't see what's so funny. I didn't say the teams had to be even," she said with an indignant look on her face.  
  
Ron couldn't help but add, "Yeah, if you want us to give you guys Hermione, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Hermione sent a glare his way. Harry just sighed but allowed a small grin. This was going to be a long day.  
  
"Sarah, I'm appointing you in charge. Everything goes, and the duel is over when no one on the team is able to compete any further," Hermione said. "Students, I request that you move back as far as you can to give us plenty of room."  
  
They moved their chairs back, and some stood, waiting to see this obviously unfair match. Twenty-three against three? There was no way the trio could pull this off. However, some of the students realized that members of the first team were looking a bit nervous, well, those who had seen the trio in action their seventh year.  
  
Sarah stood up from her chair, sure that it was going to be a short duel, and said, "Begin the duel!"  
  
`~`~`~`  
  
Immediately Ron threw up a shield while Harry and Hermione sent out stunning spells. They hit their targets, and Molly Weasly and Renee Galder fell down, unconscious. The shield Ron kept up deflected the simultaneous 'Stupifys' that were thrown the trio's way. They moved into a triangle position, their backs facing each other as the other team surrounded them. Harry added some power to the shield to help Ron out, and at the same time he cast the disorientation spell on Sirius. Sirius quickly put his shied up while Minerva tried to stun Harry. The shield, however, with the combined powers of Ron and Harry, was too strong to allow any curses to get by.  
  
Hermione was sending multiple spells towards Arthur and Charlie Weasly. Arthur became temporarily blind, but he had enough sense to throw up a shield. Charlie, on the other hand, lost all feeling in his legs and sank helplessly to the ground, where Hermione quickly stunned him.  
  
Ron was keeping the shield up, and every once in a while would try and reflect a curse back towards the sender. He surprised Maggie like that, and she quickly circle around towards Hermione.  
  
Harry was amazing when he got going. He was using his wandless magic to freeze, paralyze, stun or disarm his opponents, which confused them because they hadn't heard a spell cast. You didn't need to say any words for wandless magic, and just the tiniest flick of the hand would do the trick. One by one, he took out different people. Fred Weasly, George Weasly, Belle Matte, Thomas Malone, all out with different hexes. Draco Malfoy, down with a case of boils and 'stupified'. He had tried to surprise Harry with the Bat Bogie Hex, and Harry barely managed to dodge it while sending multiple curses Malfoy's way. In the mean time, he had to keep an eye on Snape, who was trying (but not succeeding, to his dismay) to break the shield surrounding the trio.  
  
After about ten minutes of dueling, there were seven people left. Snape was limping due to a weak paralysis spell, but the other six were doing fine.  
  
Harry said, without looking at his friends, "All right guys, on three we split." They had been staying close together and moving as one unit. "One...two...three!" Ron quickly broke the shield he had been casting constantly, and the trio scattered in opposite directions.  
  
Harry dodged two curses thrown at him by Sirius, and a third by Minerva. He sent a hex towards his old professor that he found rather ironic. It transfigured her arms into wings, and she dropped her wand, unable to hold it with no hands. He quickly stunned her and just barely missed a stunning spell sent towards him by Snape.  
  
While Harry was occupied with Sirius and Snape, Ron was busy with his father and brother (Bill, not Charlie). He was able to knock his brother unconscious with the flipendo spell that sent him flying backwards, but he wasn't quick enough to block his father's disorientation spell. Ron saw his vision blurring and when he tried to raise his right arm with his wand, he found himself shaking his right foot in the air.  
  
"Harry, shield, quick!" he managed to get out. Harry turned quickly and sent a special shield charm towards Ron, one that would stay with him for a minute. He shouldn't have turned his back on Snape, however, because he sent the freezing charm towards Harry. Harry felt himself freeze on the spot, and he couldn't move.  
  
It was lucky for Harry that he could do wandless magic. He managed to barely move his finger, enough to undue the spell and drop to the floor to dodge the stunner Snape had sent his way.  
  
Hermione was busy with Maggie and Vinnie at the same time. Vinnie was the care of magical creatures assistant, and her real name was Maria. No one asked why she wanted to be called Vinnie.  
  
They had teamed up on her and would alternate sending hexes towards her. Hermione had her shield charm working, and she was sending out spells faster they could retaliate. Jelly-legs, leg locker, the fire charm, which cause the receiver's mind to believe their clothes were on fire, distracting them from battle-you name it Hermione sent it. In less than a minute she had worn Vinnie out and stunned her, leaving Hermione with Maggie.  
  
Ron had managed to figure out how to counter the curse, all the while grateful for the shield Harry had set up. He was left to face his father, a match that proved to be more than interesting.  
  
Harry was still battling Sirius and Snape at the same time. They seemed content to work together just for now, and they were starting to annoy Harry. He wished he could just reveal their secret weapon, but Hermione had said, no, they had to wait. That meant Harry had to take them out the normal way. He let his mind go blank, making sure his shield was still in tact, and concentrated hard on releasing some power in the form of a stunning spell. He concentrated on Snape and Sirius, and let a little bit go. They were instantly stunned, his spell breaking through both their shields. The students were awed, but it was nothing compared to the adults who were watching the duel. They knew how much power it took to do something like that.  
  
Harry had done it before. In fact, he had used his method of wiping out Death Eaters effectively these past weeks. That's how he had freed so many Aurors on his nightly outings.  
  
Hermione had managed to break Maggie's shield, and the stronger witch had no problem stunning Maggie. Hermione had worn her out, but she didn't look very tired herself.  
  
Ron, on the other hand, was still battling it out with his father. Harry and Hermione let him finish what he had started, ready to help him if needed. However, that wasn't the case. Ron had tricked his father with a simple fogging spell. When Arthur couldn't see anything, Ron stunned him. He grinned over at his friends, his relief evident that they had not stepped in to help him. That would have been humiliating.  
  
The three friends were too involved with each other to notice the stunned students. The trio also missed the first clap, and the second. Pretty soon everyone in the Great Hall was applauding them. Ron blushed with a huge grin on his face, Hermione was slightly blushing but had the same grin on her face. Only Harry was void of a grin, as if he was glad the headache was over. He'd had fun, but they didn't need to applaud them for that little duel- that was just a friendly match.  
  
Harry looked over at Toombs and was pleased to see that she was stunned. She obviously hadn't seen the trio in action before, as most of the new professors hadn't, and she certainly hadn't known that Harry was that powerful, or even Ron and Hermione for that matter.  
  
Harry raised his hands for silence, and the Great Hall immediately quieted.  
  
"As you saw, that was a group duel. It is important to rely on your team mates as well as yourself if you want to survive a duel like that. Now, this was just a friendly duel, remember. In a real situation things will be a lot tenser and hectic. Always come prepared."  
  
The three went about reviving the other team. When they were all back to normal (well, mostly back to normal) some had grins on their face, others were stunned (as in surprised). Sirius came up to Harry and shook his hand.  
  
"Glad to know you've still got it," he said, grinning. Harry just smiled back.  
  
"You guys were tough- and I never thought I'd see the day when I saw you and Snape working together," he said. Sirius rolled his eyes.  
  
"I never thought I would get my ass kicked by my godson half my age, but I guess everything's possible," he said, his eyes mischievous.  
  
Harry laughed, but stopped in the middle of laughing and winced in agony, his hand flying to his forehead. 


	8. Crazy heroes

AN: Incredibly sorry for the delay. I felt guilty, so I tried to make this one long. Thanks go to reviewers who convinced me to update ( Happy reading!  
  
"Harry? Are you ok?"  
  
"Harry? What's wrong?"  
  
Harry could hear faint voices asking him if he was alright. He couldn't tell who they were at the moment. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even tell where he was. Logic told him he was at Hogwarts, in the Great Hall, but his mind and eyes were telling him something different.  
  
He couldn't really see anything; he seemed to be surrounded by fog. Squinting, he tried to make out his surroundings. It was a useless task. Nothing was discernable. The only thing he could identify were his hands, which he held out in front of him. What was going on?  
  
Taking a blind step forward, he continued to look around. The fog didn't seem to let up, but now he could see a faint object in the distance. Squinting again, he could barely see the figure. It seemed to be a man, not a beast, because it was not crouched on all fours. However, beyond that, Harry couldn't tell what it was.  
  
Harry walked closer to the figure, not without caution however, but the figure paid him no attention. Harry was close enough now to see that what ever it was thin and tall, giving Harry the impression that it was sickly. Before Harry could take another step, his scar erupted in pain. He couldn't stop himself from crying out, but he managed to stay standing.  
  
"Ah, Harry Potter. I've been expecting you..."  
  
Harry's heart almost stopped. He knew that voice. That sinister voice had plagued his dreams for the past ten years now. The voice belonged to the man that Harry loathed above all. A man that had ruined Harry's life numerous times. A snake-like man....  
  
"Yes, I'm sure you recognize me, don't you? You look the same as you did ten years ago, sporting that horrible hair you inherited from your stubborn father, and those bright, innocent eyes from your mudblood mother...I remember those eyes very well, Potter," the figure said. Harry's scar was bursting with pain. An unknown anger was boiling up inside of him. Voldemort was mocking him, teasing him about his parents.  
  
"But I guess you have figured out that I did not call you here to talk about the past. No, it is the future that I wish to discuss. My sources tell me that you and your-friends-have returned to Hogwarts. Do you not remember the promise I made to you, Potter, if you ever returned to Hogwarts?" Voldemort asked, his voice a mere whisper.  
  
Harry couldn't keep himself from shuddering. Of course he remembered. Voldemort had informed him that if he did not leave immediately, then something horrible would happen. Harry hadn't believed him until a week after the 'talk' Dumbledore had disappeared. Of course, Harry left after that. He couldn't take the chance that Voldemort would kill off more of his friends, especially since he hadn't known how Ron or Hermione were doing.  
  
"I seem to remember it, yes, but it sounded like a scared attempt to drive me away," he said, trying to say anything to break Voldemort's confidence. "A bit pathetic, if you must know."  
  
"I would venture that Albus doesn't feel the same way, Potter," Voldemort hissed. Harry's eyes narrowed and he started forming some conclusions in his mind.  
  
"You! You banished Albus!" he said. Voldemort simply chuckled evilly.  
  
"I would not dare to take credit for that genius move, no, but I won't deny I had a part in it. Either way, it doesn't really matter, now does it? You'll never see him again, as our young over-achiever did a fine job. This, however, is getting off topic. I just wanted to remind you, Potter, that you are no longer safe at Hogwarts. Oh, I'd watch out for your Aurors, if I were you. Crucio!"  
  
Harry's body filled immediately with excruciating pain. He couldn't see, couldn't think, all he knew was pain.  
  
'Come on Harry, gather your mind,' a voice said in his head. This voice turned up on occasion, bringing him back to earth. Harry concentrated on a pain-free existence. 'Tell yourself the pain isn't real', the voice said. He concentrated. It wasn't real, it wasn't real. The pain was all in his head. Yeah right-the bloody voice had no idea what it was talking about.  
  
'It's all in your head, all in your head,' the voice said again. Harry growled impatiently, and was going to argue with the voice when he realized he could no longer feel any pain. As he groggily opened his eyes, he was startled to find three sets of eyes looking down at him.  
  
"Oh Harry, you're all right!"  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Ron kept glancing over at Harry throughout the meal. His friend had claimed to be fine, but Ron knew better. Harry kept fidgeting and playing with his food, a sure sign that something was bothering him.  
  
He turned back to his own plate, which had been filled three times before he was full. Now it was magically clean, cleared of the tiny scraps Ron had left. All that dueling had made him hungry.  
  
The duel. Well, Ron knew one thing for sure. No one was going to doubt Harry again. The looks of astonishment on all the professor's faces (well, save Snape and Malfoy) made Ron grin as he thought about it. No one had known that Harry had the much power. Ron's glee lessened as he thought of his own disbelief about his friend.  
  
When he had first heard that Harry was the head Auror for the American squad of Aurors, he was in disbelief. There were numerous stories about this mysterious head Auror in the Brazilian camp he was staying in. Stories that said the man couldn't be touched, or that he could turn invisible at will or level one hundred death eaters with a single curse. Nobody had met him, yet his legend was famous among all new Auror trainees.  
  
Ron didn't believe it at first. There was no way that Harry was that super Auror. Part of him didn't believe it because he was jealous. Jealous that Harry had become such a powerful Auror in four years, and he, Ron Weasly, still had yet to become a fully trained Auror after six years. The other part didn't believe it because he was still stewing over something Harry had said to him before he left.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ron? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Harry asked. He looked nervous, and his eyes were careful never to meet Ron's.  
  
"Sure Harry," Ron said. Inside, he was scared. What was this about? Was it about Hermione?  
  
"Ron..." he paused, and swallowed. "There's no easy way to say this...." he paused again. "I think Percy might be a death eater."  
  
Silence. It took Ron a couple of seconds to register what Harry had said.  
  
"You what?! Percy? Are you insane?" Ron yelled. Harry winced. For the last year people had been labeling him as 'the crazy Potter boy'. It didn't help that his best friend had too.  
  
"No, listen Ron, please," he began.  
  
"No! I'm not going to listen to you accuse my brother of being a death eater! You're crazy!"  
  
"Ron, please, I saw him, I swear.."  
  
"Saw him where, Harry? In your dreams? Forget it, that's not good enough. Those dreams are just that, Harry-dreams! They aren't real! And now you believe that my brother, the one who has never broken a rule in his life, is a death eater? How could you!" Ron was practically screaming at Harry now, who looked hopeless.  
  
"Ron, you've got to believe me! You have to warn your family!"  
  
"I'm not listening to this anymore! I'm leaving!" With that Ron stormed out of the room. How could Harry accuse his brother of something like that? And if anybody were to be a death eater, it would certainly not be Percy. The boy had never broken a rule in his life, let alone become a supporter of Voldemort.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Ron had been so furious at Harry that he had stormed to his rooms. They had been at Hogwarts at the time. After stewing about it several minutes, he decided to talk to Harry rationally, to make Harry see some sense. He'd make Harry realize that Percy couldn't become a death eater.  
  
However, on the way down to Harry's rooms, he had met up with Malfoy, who had served as no help to Ron. He couldn't even remember what they had argued about now-the only thing he could remember was that he got so mad he just left. He was mad at Harry, mad at Malfoy-mad at the world. So he just up and left.  
  
That was seven years ago.  
  
He spent a year wandering, and finally settled down in Brazil. He'd always wanted to be an Auror-well, that or a Quidditch player-and he applied for Auror training. After six years of training, he was finally ready to be a full-fledged Auror.  
  
The thing that bugged him was how Harry had finished the training so quickly. Ron had been one of the top Aurors to go through the program, and it had taken him a little under six years to complete it. It had to have taken Harry at least under four years, if not less than that. How did he do it? He knew Harry was powerful, but certainly not that powerful. Was he?  
  
He had finally acknowledged to himself that perhaps Harry was head Auror for the Americans. After all, they probably had a separate training program there.  
  
After he had gotten over the shock and over his jealousy, he realized that Harry could seriously kick some death eater ass if he wanted to-which had made Ron look forward to the duel earlier that day. It was good to see some of those professors get what they deserved.  
  
Harsh words brought Ron back to reality. Hermione and Harry were arguing. This was odd in itself, for there had only been two other times in which Ron had heard the two arguing. Once was in the trio's seventh year, and the other was just a couple weeks ago, with the lesson issue. However, when he heard his name, he felt obliged to listen to the conversation.  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
"Harry, I don't see where you're going with this," Hermione said, for what must have been the seventh time that night. Ron was off in his own world, and Harry had been mumbling things for the past hour. When she questioned him about it, he told her something about Dumbledore being alive and somebody being a death eater, and Snape knowing the secret....she was very confused.  
  
"I already told you, Hermione, Dumbledore knew something-he knew that he'd be gone for a while. I wonder if he knew about the attack before it happened. And the Aurors-oh god, what am I going to do?"  
  
"Harry-you're babbling. Stop, and tell me in a rational way what is going on," she said calmly, trying to break him out of his constant babbling.  
  
"Voldemort has the list- I don't know how he has it, because it's not supposed to exist. The head Auror of each organization is supposed to know how to contact every Auror in his division. Well, I was made Head just last year. There are over two hundred Aurors under my control-that's a lot of names, you know. I made a up a system of contacts, so that I could contact anyone I needed to within seconds. It worked really well, and our communication was the best in the world.  
  
"However, people started getting suspicious. How exactly was I able to contact every Auror in my department within seconds? There were a bunch of crazy rumors flying around, but the one that stuck the most was that I had a list. A list of all the Aurors, and a way to contact them.  
  
"To have such a list is illegal, not to mention extremely stupid. If a death eater were to get his hands on a list like that, he could easily kill off fifty Aurors before anyone knew what was going on. I'm not stupid-I did no such thing. Apparently, though, someone did, and somehow the death eaters got a hold of it. I've already contacted my Aurors, and they've all fled to HQ with their families, but I still don't know how someone would get a list like that. Only I know every Auror, and how to contact them."  
  
Hermione pondered what she knew about magical tracking and magical recording devices. Unknown to her, Malfoy had been listening to the conversation.  
  
"Sounds like you have a mole, Potter," he said, smirking. Harry, instead of getting angry, considered his words.  
  
"No, I don't think so. I have certain ---devices--- that allow me to know about a traitor."  
  
"I don't remember what business this is of yours, Malfoy," Hermione said curtly. Her patience was thin, especially after trying to get an intelligible word out of Harry all night. Malfoy just needed to mind his own business.  
  
"Why, worried that I might think of something you couldn't, Granger?" he replied. Hermione's eyes narrowed. He'd hit a weakness. She didn't like the idea of Malfoy being able to help Harry more than she could.  
  
"Listen, 'Mione, I've got something else to tell you." Harry saved her from retorting back to Malfoy (not that she had a good retort in the first place) by changing the subject.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well, I know people said I was crazy when I said this, but I think------ no, I know---- that Dumbledore is still alive." The last part he said at a whisper, and only Hermione and Malfoy were able to hear it. Hermione's reaction was different from Malfoy's. Her eyes softened, and she adopted an 'Oh, Poor Dear' look to her face. Malfoy, on the other hand, was smirking (it was almost a grin-but never knowing Malfoy as one to actually grin, Hermione was forced to call it a smirk).  
  
"Harry, remember, Dumbledore died over four years ago," she said quietly, looking at him sadly.  
  
"Yeah, I know what the rest of the world thinks, but believe me----- Hermione, don't look at me like that!" he said, angry she wouldn't listen to him.  
  
"Harry, there was a search for two years. Two whole years!! They couldn't find him, remember? And you know that Dumbledore would never intentionally hide from the rest of the world like that, he's not that cruel. They held a funeral for him and everything," she said sadly.  
  
"Which," he said, almost bitingly, "you did not attend, I noticed. Ron didn't either."  
  
Hermione's lip trembled, but her eyes hardened. "I had other things to attend to, Harry. Things I couldn't wait for."  
  
"Things more important than Dumbledore's funeral? Like what, a research project? I'm sure it couldn't wait," he said, scathingly. Hermione glared at him, and slapped him. Her eyes were blazing with fury, but they held tears as well. How could he say such things? Had Malfoy taken over his body?  
  
"Don't imply that I care more for my work than my friends," she said, coldly.  
  
"You left us here, didn't you?" he asked, just as coldly.  
  
Hermione's eyes teared up more than they already had. How could he know? He didn't know anything, didn't know the whole story.  
  
She stormed out of the Great Hall, hundreds of eyes on her, unable to take anymore.  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Harry sat, seething in anger. Ron looked over at him, astonished.  
  
"Did she.....she just.....Hermione??"  
  
Harry didn't answer him, he was too busy glaring at his plate.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"What?!" he snapped.  
  
Ron's eyes narrowed. "Hey, don't yell at me, I'm not the one you're mad at. I didn't do anything."  
  
"Oh sure, like abandoning everyone for seven years wasn't anything. You abandoned me too, Ron."  
  
"Harry! I couldn't take it anymore...you know that," he said, angry.  
  
Harry continued, as if he hadn't heard Ron. "And then, you didn't show up for Dumbledore's funeral--- that wasn't anything either. Oh, and don't worry about not believing me. I'm just a crazy lunatic who thinks your brother is a death eater, but of course, my dreams don't ever come true, do they?" Harry spoke very sarcastically, letting his anger get out of control. The candles that lit the room started to flicker, and the ceiling went dark.  
  
Realizing what his reaction was causing, Harry took a deep breath and walked out of the Great Hall, leaving more silence than Hermione had. Ron stayed for about two seconds, and then stormed out, turning the opposite way Harry had.  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Malfoy looked over at the now empty chairs that had just seated the famous trio. They'd be back to normal in a couple of days. He hoped.  
  
At last Potter had figured it out! Dumbledore wasn't dead.  
  
He'd known that for the past five years. All the death eaters had. Although at this point in time, Voldemort no longer believed him to be a loyal follower, at that time, Draco was. He was in the inner circle, with his traitorous father, and heard of the plan to get Dumbledore. After the meeting, Voldemort had cast a life-binding secrecy spell. This spell allowed nothing to be spoken or written of the subject outside of the room.  
  
It had been agony, sitting there while people mourned for a wizard who was really just banished, not dead. He'd seen Potter, there at the funeral, looking dead himself, as if all the confidence had been swept away with Dumbledore's death. Two months after Dumbledore 'died', Potter had left.  
  
Showed that great Gryffindor courage they always brag about. Draco just hoped the famous trio wouldn't run again. He didn't want to die at such a young age.  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
Ron was seething. How dare Harry accuse him as if he were the only one to leave everyone behind! Hermione left first, it was more her fault than his.  
  
Now Ron knew he was being rash, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything different than just sit and grumble. Hermione was part of the reason he had left anyway. She'd been gone for three years before he couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't seen her, heard from her-hell, he hadn't even known if she was alive. Yeah, Harry was his best friend, but Hermione seemed to complete him in a way no one else could.  
  
Well, actually, before he had gone off to Brazil.  
  
Hermione was one of his first girlfriends. He'd gone on small dates with Lavender or Padma (who'd eventually forgiven him), but they weren't anything but a night with friends. With Hermione it was different. It seemed he always wanted to be a better person when she was around. Of course, it's not like succeeded. In fact, looking back on it, it seemed that she always brought out the worst in him.  
  
Not able to sit any longer, he started to roam the hallways. His eyes didn't comprehend where his feet were taking him, so obviously they didn't see the person he ran into.  
  
"Ooof!"  
  
Ron turned to apologize to the person when he saw a splotchy-faced Hermione.  
  
"Oh, sorry Hermione, you ok?" he said weakly, trying to regain his balance.  
  
She nodded quickly and turned to go in the other direction. Ron reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.  
  
"I didn't mean about just now. I meant earlier-you know, the argument with Harry," he said.  
  
That looked like the wrong thing to say, because her face hardened and angry tears sprung to her eyes.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it, Ron," she said, in a harsh, raspy whisper.  
  
Ron just looked at her, knowing she would give in eventually.  
  
"Come on Hermione," he said. "You can't just sit there and mope about it. If it makes you feel any better, he yelled at me too."  
  
"Hmm, well, I suppose you deserved it, Ron," she said seriously, but there was a small grin on her face. Ron didn't catch the grin, and so he thought she was serious.  
  
"Hermione! I didn't do anything!" he protested. He scowled when he saw the grin on her face.  
  
"Ha ha, very funny," he said sarcastically.  
  
"So why did he yell at you?" Hermione asked, as they turned to walk towards the front of the castle.  
  
"I dunno. He went off about me leaving and not believing him about Percy...." Ron trailed off. He hadn't mentioned Percy to Hermione yet.  
  
"What about Percy?" she asked.  
  
"Harry saw in his dreams that Percy was a death eater," Ron said, his ears turning red. "He told me this years ago, and I didn't believe him. I mean, his dreams aren't always the truth, right? I accused him of lying, and he got mad that I wouldn't believe him. I think the last straw was when I called him crazy. He just exploded, and before I knew it, I stormed out of Hogwarts and took off. Well, today he brought it back up. I can't believe that he still thinks that after all these years," Ron said, shaking his head sadly. "And," he added as an after thought, "he yelled at me for not going to Dumbledore's funeral. I don't know how he could yell at us after all the things he did."  
  
Hermione started to nod her head in agreement, but something made her think. What exactly had Harry done?  
  
~~~~****~~~~  
  
Harry was tossing stones in the lake-well, actually, he was launching them into the lake as hard as he could.  
  
"I can't believe them....crazy...NOT crazy..." he said, grumbling to himself. "And then Hermione...and RON....arg!"  
  
Splash. That was the giant squid, coming up to see what the commotion was. Harry stopped throwing rocks, and walked around the lake to the opposite shore.  
  
Maybe he should just leave. He wasn't really doing anything here anyways. His time would be better served hunting down Percy (whom he suspected knew where Dumbledore was) or finding that damn secretary who leaked all of his Aurors' names to the Death Eaters. He knew it was that nosy secretary, it just had to be!  
  
But his time was useless here, teaching kids how to perform a Patronus and working on shield spells when he could be setting up the defenses to the castle.  
  
Noooo. Hermione wouldn't let him. McGonagall wouldn't let him. Snape just laughed at his misfortune. Malfoy-he was a bit of a puzzle. He still hated Malfoy (there was no doubt) but it was sort of a peaceful hate. Put it this way-there were people (like that Sarah Toombs woman) whom he hated much more than Malfoy.  
  
And why had Malfoy smirked when he said that Dumbledore was still alive? Did he think Harry had gone crazy as well? Or did he know something Harry didn't? How much longer did Dumbledore even have? Was he already gone? And why wouldn't anyone believe him?  
  
He kept walking. By now he had made a full lap around the lake. He saw a figure sitting by the side of the lake. He could tell who it was without seeing her face. She was staring straight, as if in a daze. However, when she saw Harry, she got up and came over to him.  
  
Harry scowled. He didn't need this right now. He didn't slow his speed, so she was forced to walk quickly to keep up with him.  
  
"Harry, could you wait a second? I need to talk to you," she said, a bit breathless. He ignored her and kept going.  
  
"Harry, please!" she said, with an exasperated voice.  
  
He still kept going. Maybe she would understand that he wanted to be alone.  
  
"Harry James Potter! I need to talk to you, and I don't care if you want to talk or not!"  
  
Well, at least she knew he didn't want to talk. It was a start.  
  
"Hermione, I'd rather not have a conversation right now. I'm in the middle of thinking about something rather complicated," he said, for lack of better explanation. Why didn't he want to talk to her anyways? She didn't seem to be mad at him anymore. Ah, that's right, he was still mad at her.  
  
"Harry, stop being immature and listen."  
  
"No, you listen. I was thinking, and I think I'd be better off hunting down the death eater who wants to kill all my Aurors, or hunting down a certain death eater who has betrayed everyone. I'm not doing anything here but arguing with you and Ron. Minerva still treats me like a little kid who needs protecting. No one has done anything about Dumbledore-because no one believes me."  
  
"Harry, we believe you... it's just that sometimes.... maybe what you see is really just a dream-nothing more."  
  
Harry's eyebrows narrowed. "Well, in how many of my dreams does Voldemort talk to me directly?"  
  
Hermione frowned. "You dreamed he talked to you? Had a normal conversation?"  
  
Harry nodded. "Yes..... of course, his normal conversation always includes a 'Crucio' every once in a while."  
  
Hermione gasped. "He can do that? In dreams?"  
  
"Apparently. I didn't realize it before. I could always feel him performing the curse on other people, but never on me directly." He switched the subject quickly, eager for one last try to get Hermione to believe him. If she helped him look for Dumbledore, they'd definitely find him quicker.  
  
"Hermione---please believe me about Dumbledore. I'm not going crazy, I promise. I've found evidence...real evidence, that proves it....." he trailed off, desperately wanting someone to believe him. He found that the only reason he was angry at Hermione at the moment was because she refused to believe him.  
  
When they were in school, she always took his side. It actually made Ron quite jealous of the two in sixth year. Hermione had always believe him before-so why didn't she now?  
  
~~~***~~~  
  
She looked at his eyes, which were pleading her silently to believe him. Maybe if he had evidence.....  
  
'But he doesn't. He's just making it up.' Her inner voice told her. Still, those eyes...  
  
"Harry.." she started, then sighed. "Harry, can you show me the evidence?"  
  
Harry lost his frown, and a small smile appeared.  
  
"You really believe me?" he asked. She nodded slowly. Yes, he'd never lied to her before...she'd believe him if he had enough evidence.  
  
"Yeah, I believe you. Harry..." she paused. "Harry," she began again. "I'm sorry I blew up at you. I wasn't thinking rationally, and Malfoy just pushed me over the edge and----"  
  
Harry interrupted her. "No, it's not your fault, 'Mione," he said. Her heart gave a slight flutter when he used her nickname. It meant he wasn't mad at her anymore. "I've been angry for a while, and it all just flew out of my mouth tonight. I was angry that you left, and then Ron left, and everything that's been happening..I guess I just lost my temper. I'm sorry," he said. "It just felt like you left me-us-here. Ron wasn't the same after you left. I..I wasn't the same either," he said softly. "No one was here to think logically through anything, no one to tell Ron and I to stop being babies and stop our arguing. We needed you, Hermione, and you left us."  
  
Her eyes swelled with tears, and she felt guilt rush all over her. "Harry, please, I never meant to leave you behind, it's just-----just," she paused, unable to continue for a second. Her throat was tightening up. "I couldn't handle....couldn't.....I couldn't...." how was she supposed to tell Harry the reason she left was because of him?  
  
~~**~~**~~  
  
Hermione was excited. It was a week before graduation. They'd just finished their N.E.W.T.S., and she couldn't wait until July 17, the day the results were supposed to arrive. She'd tried to go over the tests with Harry and Ron, but Ron had just refused to talk about them. He was so stubborn sometimes-it was kind of cute the way he would flinch every time someone would mention the tests.  
  
Harry didn't mind discussing the tests-but he preferred to sit down outside and just relax. She often found him under their tree outside (one they always studied by) just resting, his eyes gathering a far almost lost look. As soon as she'd approach, he'd refocus his attention and talk to her. She never asked about it, and he never offered information.  
  
On that day, Hermione and Harry were sitting by the tree discussing the transfiguration NEWT, the practical part of course.  
  
"Did you know that for bonus you could transfigure the examiner's hand into lion's paw? I think I earned an extra two points because of it," Hermione said thoughtfully. Harry grinned.  
  
"Hey 'Mione, speaking of human transfiguration, what do you think about becoming an Aminigus? Do you think we could do it?" he said, with a mischievous grin. Hermione's face brightened.  
  
"Really, Harry? Are you serious? I've been dying to try ever since the Sirius issue in third year, but I thought we should do it together, don't you? Oh, this will be so interesting! And we can keep a log, of things to do and not to do, and we can...." she continued on, with a happy grin on her face. She'd been waiting ages for Harry to bring it up. She hadn't wanted to mention it because of sixth year, but she thought that it'd be a great idea, not just for educational purposes, but for safety reasons as well.  
  
Harry's small grin stayed on his face, which pleased Hermione to no end. It was a rare thing these days to see Harry smiling. You had to work hard to get a smile.  
  
"So when do you think we should start? I was thinking we should try it soon, now that NEWTS are over with," she said at the end of her long speech.  
  
Harry's smile got bigger.  
  
"That's what I figured, Hermione, so that's why I gathered all the ingredients for us. We have everything we need to make the first potion, the one that tells us what our form will be. Don't worry, I haven't made it yet. You won't miss out on this opportunity," he said, half teasing, half serious. She swatted his arm, pouting at his teasing.  
  
"Hmph," she said, trying to keep a grin off her face. It wasn't surprising that Harry had thought of that. He usually thought of everything.  
  
They continued talking for a while until Ron came and sat down by the tree, collapsing dramatically and flopping his arms down, sighing.  
  
Hermione held back another grin. "What's wrong, Ron?"  
  
Ron sighed. "I don't know what to do, now that I don't have to study incessantly for the NEWTS," he said, perfectly serious. "I have too much free time, and no six column planner for me to follow. What should I do, Hermione?" he said, dramatically.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and hit him on the arm, harder than she had hit Harry. "Don't make fun of me. Those timetables were the only way I got through those examinations. Ron, how many times have I told you that.."  
  
"Relax, Hermione, I was only kidding." He chuckled. "In fact, I can think of many things to do with my time, but sitting under a tree isn't high up there on the list," he said, laughing again.  
  
Harry just looked over at Hermione and shrugged. "I think what we were discussing would be of interest to you Ron, but if you think that sitting under a tree isn't good enough for you, then ..." he trailed off, knowing that he had caught Ron's interest.  
  
"What? What were you discussing?"  
  
They filled him on in their newest plan. Instead of looking excited, he looked a bit miffed.  
  
"You couldn't wait until I was here to discuss this?" he asked, sounding a bit angry.  
  
"Ron, Harry just now brought up the topic. We haven't had time to really talk it through," Hermione said.  
  
Instead of pacifying Ron, this statement seemed to anger him more.  
  
"Oh, so how long have you been thinking about it Harry? Long enough to tell me, your best mate?" he said.  
  
Harry, who had gotten used to accusations of the sort (which still hurt, by the way), reasoned with Ron.  
  
"No, I hadn't told anyone, Ron. You know what happened sixth year," he said. Ron looked immediately guilty, and apologized. Harry just nodded and changed the subject. Hermione hadn't caught the painful look in his eye when Ron sat next to her with his arm around her waist.  
  
Later on that day, Hermione was in the common room reading on the couch when Harry came in.  
  
"Hey 'Mione," he said as a greeting.  
  
She lifted her eyes from the book (which was more than she did for anyone else) and said a brief hello before going back to her book. It was getting really interesting.  
  
Harry sat on the opposite chair, and just stared into the fire. They sat like that for several minutes, peaceful and comfortable.  
  
A wind interrupted the calmness of the room. A hawk had somehow made its way into the common room, dropped a letter on Hermione's lap, and exited again within a matter of seconds.  
  
She looked over at it, shocked. Harry looked a bit alarmed, but then he calmed down as he realized it wasn't a portkey (it was touching her and hadn't activated-at the time, he had forgotten about time activated portkeys).  
  
Hermione touched the letter carefully, trying to see who it was from. There was no writing on the front, so she cautiously broke the seal and opened the letter.  
  
Inside was a message that would haunt her forever.  
  
You can't save him, Mudblood. No matter how hard you try, or how much you know, he's worse than dead when I finish with him. 


End file.
